# Barn Mbirizi #62 Burundi Espresso



## unoll (Jan 22, 2014)

I thought I'd treat myself and bought a kg of Barn Mbirizi #62 Espresso. Does anyone have an idea of the sort of equipment and recipes they use for figuring out the roast profile? Has anyone brewed with the coffee or other barn coffee and figured out an initial target recipe? I've burnt through nearly 200g trying to figure out how to get it to taste good and I'm still not there. Further details:

- coffee rested for 11 days (as they posted out a bag that was already a week old)

- Brewtus Mk4 which I'm pertty sure I've got the temperature offset right for (about 12°C)

- Rosco mini grinder

- great leveller 58.5mm tamper

- Volvic water

- VST 18g basket

Probably the best extraction so far was 18g > 40g in 40s @ 95°C and OPV limited at 9bar (standard pressure limit of 10.5bar at same grind or finer was chocking basket) and it's still got some unpleasant underextracted flavours going on. Grinding finer or extracting more, ie 18>47 at same grind setting ends up giving a fairly unpleasant astringant aftertaste. I'm letting the coffee cool down before tasting it.

Maybe the issue is just with my tastebuds, but any advice gladly received if it helps me find the sweet spot with this coffee.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Try diluting the shot to see if the " strength " is masking flavours .

You could try decreasing the temp in an attempt to reduce perceived acidity

I have used a few barn coffee 's and am pretty much around my prefered recipe ( this will differ to yours though due to grinder and pressure i use ) - i only say this as a reference that i didn't have to diverge to far from what i normally do ( i do brew between 91-93 as a personal preference - this may or may not work for you )


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Have you tried going longer .... 18> 42-45 btw


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## unoll (Jan 22, 2014)

Thanks boots, I'll give diluting a crack and see if I have much luck.

I've tried extracting at 90, 93 and 95 the and the 95's seemed to be least acidic tasting, all shots were allowed to cool down before tasting so I'm not sure if perceived acidity is the issue.

Yes, I went up to 47g out at one point. In my first post I mention that I end up with an astringent after taste unfortunately.

What's working for you with your setup?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

I use an Ek43 Grinder and low pressure so my recipes tend to reflect that , but for clarity dose 20g > 48 g 25- 30 seconds . Different grinders will have different sweet spots in terms of how far you can push the recipe and extraction before it goes over extracted and bad on you

The astringency could be strength masking clarity its hard to tell , your recipe sounds like you are in the bounds of " over extracton " but I am guessing from numbers only @jeebsy has used Barn stuff on his stall also , he may be of more help and has a brewtus at home


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

We got about six different beans from the Barn and I found a couple were really hard to work with.

On the Mythos I was going 18>38ish in 26ish secs with the Bokasso and that was tasting pretty good. 94 on the Brewtus, dunno what temp was on the two group. I thought the Barn stuff suited quicker pulls, I tend to prefer shots in the 25-30 sec range rather than over.


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## unoll (Jan 22, 2014)

Thanks boots, ordinarily I'd agree that I was totally in overextraction territory but I'm not really tasting it, extracting less gives some unpleasant acidity and no sweetness. What pressure profile do you tend to use for barn? At the moment I've got a 10 second ramp up to a limit of 9bar on the gauge which is likely giving me in the region of 7.5-8bar at group, I'm grinding very fine in an attempt to try and get something as similar to an EK grind as I can manage with my grinder (although I know it'll never be the same).

My worry is that the coffee has been developed using an EK and a hydra and that this will mean I don't stand a chance of getting the best from it with my current gear.


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## unoll (Jan 22, 2014)

Thanks Jeebsy, I'll see how I get on, although the first time round, the 1:2 pulls I was getting in less than 30s were tasting pretty rubbish. Worth another try though.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Try 18:54g just as a sanity check, the first signs of bitterness sometimes come before sweetness.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

unoll said:


> Thanks boots, ordinarily I'd agree that I was totally in overextraction territory but I'm not really tasting it, extracting less gives some unpleasant acidity and no sweetness. What pressure profile do you tend to use for barn? At the moment I've got a 10 second ramp up to a limit of 9bar on the gauge which is likely giving me in the region of 7.5-8bar at group, I'm grinding very fine in an attempt to try and get something as similar to an EK grind as I can manage with my grinder (although I know it'll never be the same).
> 
> My worry is that the coffee has been developed using an EK and a hydra and that this will mean I don't stand a chance of getting the best from it with my current gear.


A few of us had Barn stuff with a mix of gear used by all means not al EK43 owners , i dont think it EK43 driven roast wise per se ...

Going finer wont help you replicate an EK43 per se , at some point the finer you go will have an adverse effect

You will find a sweet spot you like or perhaps its just not for you ...

Have you tried steeping or brewing it ( french press etc or cupping ) to see what is in there before the man and machine get to it


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## NickdeBug (Jan 18, 2015)

When I visited the Barn in September they were very prescriptive about how coffee was offered.

Some of their beans were only available as Aeropress and V60 as, in their opinion, they were not as good when used for espresso.

Depends how much stock you put in this argument, but maybe the Mbirizi is one of those.


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## unoll (Jan 22, 2014)

Mrboots2u said:


> A few of us had Barn stuff with a mix of gear used by all means not al EK43 owners , i dont think it EK43 driven roast wise per se ...
> 
> Going finer wont help you replicate an EK43 per se , at some point the finer you go will have an adverse effect


Thanks boots, I had a feeling that might be the case. I was hoping dropping the pressure might take account of this.

I guess I need to go back to basics, lock everything in so I get 18:37 in 27s at 94°C and then try some other ratios to try and narrow down the solution.

Thanks for the all the advice guys, I'll keep going, hopefully I get there before the coffee runs out!


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## unoll (Jan 22, 2014)

NickdeBug said:


> When I visited the Barn in September they were very prescriptive about how coffee was offered.
> 
> Some of their beans were only available as Aeropress and V60 as, in their opinion, they were not as good when used for espresso.
> 
> Depends how much stock you put in this argument, but maybe the Mbirizi is one of those.


The coffee I bought is supposed to specifically be an espresso roast.


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## unoll (Jan 22, 2014)

Last night i gave @jeebsy 's recipe a go and first time round I got exactly the same brew ratio in the same time (more luck than by design). Anyway, it turned out that the drink was now alot more tasty. The acidity is still there and I find it pretty strong but not unpleasant. There was a bit of a savory slightly bitter flavour going on on the finish which I sorted out the second time round by pulling a 18:33 shot instead. This time round the shot was tasty and sweet with pleasant aftertaste and good mouth feel, definately a big improvement.

I don't know what was going on with my tastebuds when I was getting similar shots the first time round, maybe I'd just tasted too much to be able to differentiate any more.

Anyways, big thanks to Jeebsy and @Mrboots2u as now I can start enjoying the remaining 1/2kg

current brew recipe:

- 18g in the basket

- Volvic water

- Brewtus IV set @94°C, OPV set to give mamometer reading of 10.5bar

- 33g beverage weight in 25/26 seconds


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Good news- next shot just try adding small amounts of water to it and tasting just to see what you think


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