# So What Do You Do When......



## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

I'm just wondering what people do when they buy a bag of beans & they don't get on with them? Do you plug away as you've paid for them or bite the bullet, bin them or pass them on & order something else? I've had a few disappointing bags over the last few months & generally been giving them away, but this is proving expensive! I'm wondering whether a "bean swap" thread may prove useful?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Methodically revise my brew parameters until they come on song. For outliers I might favour one brew method over another (very soluble beans might be safer brewed as immersion, those that don't give up the goods so easily might be better as drip).

90% of the beans I have need no change in recipe, or grind to make decent cups as brewed.

Occasionally I might stumble on a bag that I can't get on with, we're talking a handful of bags out of 75-100 a year?

Not every bag is going to be stellar, most are very good, nearly all are at least nice even if they don't carry my preferred favours.


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## NickdeBug (Jan 18, 2015)

Have a word with MrBoots and check out his BeansnotMachines facebook group.

As I understand it there is more swapping going on there than a Friday night party in suburbia.


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

Freeze them and use them for when relatives come around or "friends" who like sugar in their coffee.


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

MWJB said:


> Methodically revise my brew parameters until they come on song. For outliers I might favour one brew method over another (very soluble beans might be safer brewed as immersion, those that don't give up the goods so easily might be better as drip).
> 
> 90% of the beans I have need no change in recipe, or grind to make decent cups as brewed.
> 
> ...


I think that's my problem. Inexperience, lack of brewing knowledge & the fact I only ever Aeropress & usually use pretty much the same recipe. I need to read up & learn more!


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

jimbojohn55 said:


> Freeze them and use them for when relatives come around or "friends" who like sugar in their coffee.


Great Idea, thanks!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Jez H said:


> I think that's my problem. Inexperience, lack of brewing knowledge & the fact I only ever Aeropress & usually use pretty much the same recipe. I need to read up & learn more!


Using the same recipe is going to largely result in a similar extraction, some coffees will fare better than others at extremes, ideally finding the middle ground would be good, so you only need to change/adjust recipes occasionally.

What is your Aeropress recipe? Reading up on recipes for Aeropress is going to confuse the hell out of you because there are so many, break it down to the simplest. 60g/l, inverted, water right off the boil, cover, leave until 10min, break & taste off the top, if not good, cover again & leave some more, taste & so on until you hit something you like, flip & plunge into a preheated cup. Eventually you might find a steep time that suits your preference...then just leave all brews for that time. FWIW I tend to brew normal way up as I don't taste off the top since I decided ~20mins steep time at 55g/L suits me.

Maybe pick up a Melitta style brewer too (get either the genuine Melitta, Bonavita, Westmark...all have either 1 or 2 small holes close together, with Filtropa white papers), so you can A/B the same coffee, same ratio, same grind, 2 ways & see what you prefer.


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

all of the above + I will give bags away to friends and familiy, just becase they're not to my taste someone else will like them.

As per MWJB, it's a very rare thing.

most beans get rescued as a cappa!


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

MWJB said:


> Using the same recipe is going to largely result in a similar extraction, some coffees will fare better than others at extremes, ideally finding the middle ground would be good, so you only need to change/adjust recipes occasionally.
> 
> What is your Aeropress recipe? Reading up on recipes for Aeropress is going to confuse the hell out of you because there are so many, break it down to the simplest. 60g/l, inverted, water right off the boil, cover, leave until 10min, break & taste off the top, if not good, cover again & leave some more, taste & so on until you hit something you like, flip & plunge into a preheated cup. Eventually you might find a steep time that suits your preference...then just leave all brews for that time. FWIW I tend to brew normal way up as I don't taste off the top since I decided ~20mins steep time at 55g/L suits me.
> 
> Maybe pick up a Melitta style brewer too (get either the genuine Melitta, Bonavita, Westmark...all have either 1 or 2 small holes close together, with Filtropa white papers), so you can A/B the same coffee, same ratio, same grind, 2 ways & see what you prefer.


Thanks for the advice. Wow, 10 minutes! I usually brew for 2-3 minutes! I'll leave it longer tomorrow morning. My Wilfa grinder has an Aeropress setting, but I've been told to try grinding finer? Also using bottled water is mentioned quite frequently, which I need to try.


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## 4515 (Jan 30, 2013)

Ive had a couple of bags that just weren't for me and they went to a mate who used them in FP

Ive had one that I wouldn't want to subject others to and that went the way of the bin

In three plus years my fail rate hasn't been that high. I can live with ditching around £20 of beans in that timeframe


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Jez H said:


> Thanks for the advice. Wow, 10 minutes! I usually brew for 2-3 minutes! I'll leave it longer tomorrow morning. My Wilfa grinder has an Aeropress setting, but I've been told to try grinding finer? Also using bottled water is mentioned quite frequently, which I need to try.


Try Deeside water if you're heating the water in a regular kettle. If your local doesn't stock that, let me know where you shop, but Volvic is probably the next candidate. Bottled water is just water in bottles  most of it isn't great, some of it is, just like tap water.


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

MWJB said:


> Try Deeside water if you're heating the water in a regular kettle. If your local doesn't stock that, let me know where you shop, but Volvic is probably the next candidate. Bottled water is just water in bottles  most of it isn't great, some of it is, just like tap water.


I have quite a few supermarkets that I can use. Booths, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Co-op etc.

bottled water & longer brew time is definitely my next to try.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Jez H said:


> I have quite a few supermarkets that I can use. Booths, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Co-op etc.
> 
> bottled water & longer brew time is definitely my next to try.


Waitrose should have Deeside.


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## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

1. Make sure you're using low mineral content water - it has a massive effect on taste. Some beans taste terribly dull with some waters. I've had bags of beans which tasted very flat using filtered tap water, but great with low mineral content bottled water.

2. Do a home cupping to get a feel for how the beans taste - some good instructions here, and he uses your grinder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUh8ScYp9TY. Be patient, after breaking the crust, it takes at least about 10 min before things start to get quite tasty.


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

Thanks for all the advice. I'm definitely going to pick up some bottled water tonight!


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## Elcee (Feb 16, 2017)

Do you think certain types of beans brew better with particular brew methods? If so how do you determine this? What properties of beans suit certain brew methods?



MWJB said:


> Methodically revise my brew parameters until they come on song. For outliers I might favour one brew method over another (very soluble beans might be safer brewed as immersion, those that don't give up the goods so easily might be better as drip).
> 
> 90% of the beans I have need no change in recipe, or grind to make decent cups as brewed.
> 
> ...


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Elcee said:


> Do you think certain types of beans brew better with particular brew methods? If so how do you determine this? What properties of beans suit certain brew methods?


Ideally, in a perfect world, it shouldn't make any difference. In the real world, you might stumble on a bean that extracts really fast, or really high with drip...so a gentler extraction in a temperature declining immersion with a bigger window for killing the brew/taste as you go, might be preferable. A less soluble roast might often not quite hit a high sweetness in the immersion, but may fare better as drip. Neither of these scenarios necessarily makes the bean bad/good, as long as the result is tasty.

I determine this by taste vs measured extraction yield &/or brew time. Most of the time, by far, different brew methods affect clarity of flavour & mouthfeel, rather than flavour per se. So, use a default, consistent, brew method based on time available, brew size...then look to change method, if your usual one can't produce a tasty brew in 3 or 4 goes?


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## Grahamg (Oct 24, 2013)

I tend to find some beans require more time and effort than I can be bothered with for optimum espresso, especially on a 250g bag, whereas I find aeropress at work makes a nice brew even in my idol/inexperienced hands


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## Grimley (Jan 18, 2015)

They get relegated to the early morning French press dontcarewhatittasteslikeimstillsleepy wakemeupforwork brew at 3am/4.30am weekdays.


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