# Monmouth Kenya Ndumberi



## xygorn (Feb 10, 2015)

When I asked Monmouth staff for something bright and fruity, I was given their Kenya Ndumberi. Their tasting notes said caramelized blackcurrants, and the whole beans smelled spot on. However, I am struggling to get the blackcurrant aroma to stick around in my brew. Has anyone else had luck brewing with these beans? For reference, I am working with an Aeropress and a Hario Mini, and am not set up (yet) to do espresso.

- Ziggy


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Whats your current recipe for aeropress?


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## xygorn (Feb 10, 2015)

Mrboots2u said:


> Whats your current recipe for aeropress?


Most recently, I've been using the inverted method as follows:

16 g sifted coffee grounds (after removing ~3g of fines)

160 g 92C water

10 second stir

90 second extraction without stirring

cap with wet paper filter

flip onto heated mug

~20 second press stopping as soon as I hear the first hiss

I've tried temperature +/- 2 degrees, ratios from 8:1 to 12:1, and extractions from 90 - 150 seconds.


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

That's quite a high brew strength. My starting point is always 14g to 210g.

JP


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## xygorn (Feb 10, 2015)

jjprestidge said:


> That's quite a high brew strength. My starting point is always 14g to 210g.
> 
> JP


Yes, I was spoiled by my Moka pot brews, which are closer to espresso brew ratios. Until just recently, I had been using 8:1 ratios in the Aeropress.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Perhaps leave the fines in, in such a short brew time & given the fact you will have brewed coffee passing through the bed at plunge (not clean brew water), they may not have such na adverse effect on extraction. Alternatively, if removing them, extend your brew time, treat it more like a typical French press, 5-10mins at 65-70g/l?


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

MWJB said:


> Perhaps leave the fines in, in such a short brew time & given the fact you will have brewed coffee passing through the bed at plunge (not clean brew water), they may not have such a adverse effect on extraction. Alternatively, if removing them, extend your brew time, treat it more like a typical French press, 5-10mins at 65-70g/l?


Fines are actually the most consistently sized particles in your dose (and, interestingly, the EK43 produces quite a lot of fines).

JP


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

jjprestidge said:


> and, interestingly, the EK43 produces quite a lot of fines.
> 
> JP


needs qualifying.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

...fines which are closer in size to your target particles.


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## xygorn (Feb 10, 2015)

MWJB said:


> Perhaps leave the fines in


What ended up working was readding the fines later in the extraction. I got the intensity and flavour, without the astringency.


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

The Systemic Kid said:


> needs qualifying.


http://mattperger.com/The-EK43-Part-Two

...and that's by volume. By surface area the fines peak is even greater.

I'm not saying that the particle dustribution is more uneven as a result - it's not - but it certainly isn't quite what people were expecting it to produce.

JP


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

jjprestidge said:


> http://mattperger.com/The-EK43-Part-Two
> 
> ...and that's by volume. By surface area the fines peak is even greater.
> 
> ...


- 1 -

The grinder with the least fines is the Robur [Green].

This was quite surprising although in retrospect it's fairly obvious. The Robur is producing a massive number of large particles; half of which are larger than 444um. Fines are produced when you slice coffee beans into smaller pieces. As it turns out, the robur isn't making the beans anywhere near as small as the other grinders, so of course it should have the least fines.

- 3 -

The finest or 'smallest' peak (mode) is from the EK43 [blue] at 295um.

This is super important. The EK43 is making grinds much much smaller and much more evenly than any other grinder. This means you can extract more, without getting over-extracted flavours.

- 4 -

The EK43 is making the most fines (gasp!) but I have two things to say to this.

1. The EK43 is slicing each coffee bean so many more times than the other grinders; it's a super small grind size. With this in mind, there should be much more fines; but there isn't. It's only producing 3% more 0-90um particles than the Robur. It's doing an admirable job of hitting such a fine grind and producing so few fines.

*2. The rest of the grinds are so much closer to the fines than with the other grinders. As I'll explain later, this is one of the defining factors in the EK43's superiority.*


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

jeebsy said:


> - 1 -
> 
> The grinder with the least fines is the Robur [Green].
> 
> ...


You're right, but remember that the data are different when looking at surface area rather than volume.

Also, you're making the assumption that a more even particle distribution is desirable. I took this as read until recently, but, having spoken with Max and a few of my customers who are academics in the field of theoretical chemistry and chemical engineering, it's not a given. There's some research going on now, so we'll see what happens.

JP


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

We often talk about grinds as if they all work the same way irrespective of brew method, but I suspect that percolation vs immersion has quite different requirements.


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