# DSOL or LSOL?



## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

*What do you drink the MOST of, darker roasts or lighter roasts?*​
I drink Darker roasts the most1130.56%I drink Lighter roasts the most2569.44%


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

What do you drink the most of, darker roasts or lighter roasts?

have your tastes changed at all since you got into coffee?

wondering how the split is with the current crowd of people.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Arghhhhhh - talk about the taste not the colour of the beans......

Unless you have an agtron then all concepts of dark and light are nonsense ... most might be medium









bring back the jealometer


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

You have options for one, or another, but not one for a mix?

Also, the question refers to what we drink, not what we buy?

E.g. I buy light, medium up to medium dark, but I drink anything that's given to me.


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

muahaha let the "discussion" begin


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

I prefer beige - the beige of m and s slacks.


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

Mrboots2u said:


> Arghhhhhh - talk about the taste not the colour of the beans......
> 
> Unless you have an agtron then all concepts of dark and light are nonsense ... most might be medium
> 
> ...


perception is reality


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

MWJB said:


> Also, the question refers to what we drink, not what we buy?
> 
> E.g. I buy light, medium up to medium dark, but I drink anything that's given to me.


no-one forces you to go to Starbucks


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## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

I'm going to post a 'spoiled ballot paper' in the box . . . . Ticked both! And the one in between, in invisible ink!


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## 4515 (Jan 30, 2013)

Did enjoy darker roasted beans but generally prefer beans that are not oily. However, I can enjoy monsooned malibar roasted darker. I get that beans should be roasted to their best point but I don't enjoy the majority of darker beans now


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> bring back the jealometer


Lol. He was quite steadfast in his views of light and dark, and look where it ended...dark places!

Yep let's talk about taste and flavours.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

OK Does anyone disagree with my 2 lists.

Like:-

Sweet

Fruits

Choc

Caramel

Sugar cane

Balanced

Dislike:-

Bitter

Sour

Acidic


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

urbanbumpkin said:


> OK Does anyone disagree with my 2 lists.
> 
> Like:-
> 
> ...


No disagreement from me.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

I enjoy acidity when it's in balance with other traits


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

Don't mind a bit of bitter (a bit), and don't really like much fruit at this point in my taste journey.

Prefer dark, can't quite get in to lighter.

However after 6 months things are starting to change - went back to a SO medium Ethiopian which 2 months ago I almost wanted to sink - I quite enjoyed the last one. Things changing constantly


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

kennyboy993 said:


> Don't mind a bit of bitter (a bit), and don't really like much fruit at this point in my taste journey.
> 
> Prefer dark, can't quite get in to lighter.
> 
> However after 6 months things are starting to change - went back to a SO medium Ethiopian which 2 months ago I almost wanted to sink - I quite enjoyed the last one. Things changing constantly


So what about a dark fruity coffee?


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> I enjoy acidity when it's in balance with other traits


But not acidic thought. Balance being the key. The same with a touch of bitter


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

MWJB said:


> So what about a dark fruity coffee?


Yeah would love one especially if I could get some sweetness out of it


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

What do folk class Square Miles Red Brick as?


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## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

urbanbumpkin said:


> What do folk class Square Miles Red Brick as?


Medium.

I would describe it as a quaffable toasted nutty sweet balanced lively scrumptious full bodied coffee. Not light or dark . . .


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

urbanbumpkin said:


> What do folk class Square Miles Red Brick as?


Tasty - colour is meaningless as a taste descriptor


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

urbanbumpkin said:


> OK Does anyone disagree with my 2 lists.
> 
> Like:-
> 
> ...


What do you mean by acidic? I think of acidic as sour.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Tasty - colour is meaningless as a taste descriptor


Exactly


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Step21 said:


> What do you mean by acidic? I think of acidic as sour.


I think of it as overly sharp tasting or excessively sour.


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

urbanbumpkin said:


> I think of it as overly sharp tasting or excessively sour.


Yes. I agree.

More a feature of poor extraction than a feature of the bean. Well extracted light roasts are sweet even if they taste of say lemon.


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## Thecatlinux (Mar 10, 2014)

I thought maybe I might be able to vote for both , and then I thought once I press the button that's it and I wouldn't be able to cast the other vote for the other one.

so then I thought if that was the case which one should I press first , which then led me to my own internal dilemma that if I had a first choice I didn't really think that I preferred both.

then I thought I should vote for the underdog

so in the end I didn't vote .

I ask the question is it not the bean that gives the flavour the roast is just meant to bring the best out of the bean .

I am no expert but I would thought a dark roasted Ethiopian coffee is not going to be as good as a lighter roasted one.

i find have faith in your roasters ability and make adjustments using taste as your guide works for me .

if you like dark roast buy dark roasted coffee

if you like light roast then buy light roasted coffee.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

I'm on Tapatalk so I didn't realise there was a voting option.

Can we have an option for neither or just tasty coffee?


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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

I tend to avoid beans roasted to the level of showing oils on the surface and I don't hesitate to make espresso even from 'filter' roasts, however few weeks ago I've made a flat white using rather oily Guatemala beans and it was pretty fantastic with the milk..these beans, despite being glossy on the surface aren't very dark at all.


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## salty (Mar 7, 2017)

MildredM said:


> Medium.
> 
> I would describe it as a quaffable toasted nutty sweet balanced lively scrumptious full bodied coffee. Not light or dark . . .


This is exactly what I want from tasting notes


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

salty said:


> This is exactly what I want from tasting notes


Then buy well roasted South American coffee and ignore " roast profiles " .

If anyone wants a nutty chocolate Ethiopian coffee, then please leave the room


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

This is the kind of survey I used to run, its been two years since i did the last one , i think it's time for another don't you . May be a Little more insightful than " dark or light " as i think alot of that preference is driven by brew method/drink and inclination to use milk.

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?25859&p=336731#post336731


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## salty (Mar 7, 2017)

Mrboots2u said:


> Then buy well roasted South American coffee and ignore " roast profiles " .
> 
> If anyone wants a nutty chocolate Ethiopian coffee, then please leave the room


My comment wasn't so much about the type of coffee as about the way the coffee was described. And the bonus was that that I trust the person describing it, because from her many posts she clearly has a discerning palate even though I don't personally know her. So she used descriptors that I could clearly understand and relate to - as in "toasted, nutty, sweet, balanced, lively and full bodied". Those are all descriptors that make sense to me, and I know I like, so I would have confidence in buying it regardless of the shade of roast. And she also added in a couple of subjective elements as in "quaffable" and "scrumptious" which because I trust Mildred on this, I think this is a coffee I'm going to like.

i'm still a newbie at all this despite drinking coffee for decades, so when I started on this new journey I looked not for shade of roast but the flavour characteristics I thought I would like. And over time discovered that I was favouring medium to lighter roasts over the darker roasts that I'd unknowingly been consuming from supermarket coffee in the past.

That doesn't mean that I just want to drink coffee with chocolate/nutty profiles though. I think that's what happens to us on this journey in that you start to experience different taste profiles from a beverage that you thought you knew and so you let yourself experiment. And this is where I think tasting notes can get tricky. In the other thread that's running along similar lines to this "Am I In A Minority" MWJB mentions that "Stone fruits might be plums, damsons, that might include bitter tannins that could be found in the skins in some cases, yellow stone fruit might be like ripe, sweet, juicy plums, peaches or mango...mango could also be slightly sour if unripe. I don't know anyone who typically eats the stones. Plenty of Guats & Brazils taste of honey, nuts, treacle, caramel, choc...maybe a touch of more gentle grape or melon acidity"

So for me I find it helpful when tasting notes describe flavours that aren't always simply one thing or another, rather than just saying for example stone fruits, mango or citrus.

Although I really do like chocolate/nutty flavours as reflected in recent purchases from Pact of "Planalto" and Crankhouse "Las Galeras", both of which I really liked, I've also been using Crankhouse Kibingo Honey Burundi (stewed apricot and maple syrup) which I really like and just ordered the Crankhouse Duromina (ripe peach and bergamot with a sweet almond finish) and Samii Lot 1 (stone fruit, raspberry and florals). On the Samii I'm trusting Dave from Crankhouse in the same way that I'd trust @MildredM







and working on the basis that it's going to be lusciously ripe plum and the sweetest raspberry. I have no idea what I'm getting with florals but I know that Dave and Mildred won't let me down.

Finally - interesting to note that Crankhouse doesn't talk about roast at all on the website, although I know that he leans towards medium to lighter roasts.


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

I knew this would stimulate a lot of debate









this Dark v Light question comes up a lot, the reason it does is because when Joe public wants to get into coffee they google about it and every other guide talks about roast level, Italian Dark roasts, French Roasts etc. The Wikipedia page on coffee mentions "dark" and "light" 35 times!

like it or not, light v dark is akin to red v white wine in the public perception, and given that the taste changes as you roast longer it's no surprise that people perceive a general correlation in the flavors they like and the colour of the bean.

personally I think it's a good starting point to educate, explain the correlation & explore which flavours they like, and then guide on how to find those flavours, otherwise there's a danger that we confuse and even come across as patronising elitists, which is much more likely to turn people off rather than engage them.

So the poll is intentionally worded the way it is, it's asking what you *think *you drink the most of, what's your *perception.*



*
*What does the result tell us? not a great deal really, it's just a general highly subjective trend indicator.

Interestingly though in other recent threads I think that people on this forum had there own perception that "there's more DSOL drinkers than there are LSOL drinkers" (whatever that comparison is meant to mean) - people have interpreted the poll in their own way and have voted, what conclusions (if any) do we take from the results?


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

Mrboots2u said:


> This is the kind of survey I used to run, its been two years since i did the last one , i think it's time for another don't you . May be a Little more insightful than " dark or light " as i think alot of that preference is driven by brew method/drink and inclination to use milk.
> 
> http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?25859&p=336731#post336731


I'd be interested to see this again and would be willing to help if you fancy running again, maybe we could expand the questions a little?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Phobic said:


> I'd be interested to see this again and would be willing to help if you fancy running again, maybe we could expand the questions a little?


Sure - drop me a pm. Done roughly the same format twice so it would be good to keep some consistent ( so can have comparable result ) and also keep it simple to use .

I try to stay away from subjective answers ( like dark - light - tasty etc ) and just get a picture of what is being drink and brewed . The rest is too subjective ...


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

yes will do.

Agree on the subjective questions, I was thinking of including something about beans though, maybe along the lines of price, varietal, & country. That in itself might be a stretch though as my hunch is not as many people are recording what they drink as we might think....


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Phobic said:


> yes will do.
> 
> Agree on the subjective questions, I was thinking of including something about beans though, maybe along the lines of price, varietal, & country. That in itself might be a stretch though as my hunch is not as many people are recording what they drink as we might think....


They probably are, it's just not that relevant. The origins you get will rotate by season, varietal will be what it is for the lots purchased (a few lots/roasters will have options on varietal & process). If you have a weekly sub, that's 52 entries per year...plus ad hoc purchases.


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

I'd love to subscribe to something like that


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

MWJB said:


> They probably are, it's just not that relevant. The origins you get will rotate by season, varietal will be what it is for the lots purchased (a few lots/roasters will have options on varietal & process). If you have a weekly sub, that's 52 entries per year...plus ad hoc purchases.


don't disagree, I just know that for myself I have preferences within what's available, there are some things I generally don't buy at all.

suspect that lots of people find really floral geisha's a bit out of reach for example, would be curious to see what people drink - just a hunch but looking at what's being retailed could make you conclude a few things in terms of demand....


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

I prefer medium , on a range from light-medium to medium-dark .

If oils are showing its way too far, if its vegetal, green and under developed then not far enough - these both go in the bin or given away. I can work with anything in between .


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Phobic said:


> don't disagree, I just know that for myself I have preferences within what's available, there are some things I generally don't buy at all.
> 
> suspect that lots of people find really floral geisha's a bit out of reach for example, would be curious to see what people drink - just a hunch but looking at what's being retailed could make you conclude a few things in terms of demand....


I guess I'm different in that I rarely choose the coffee I drink, I just choose the roaster I trust.

James Hoffmann took a snapshot of what people drank a couple of weeks ago...http://www.jimseven.com/2017/06/05/survey-results-consumer-vs-industry/

Interestingly, he mentioned a perceived lack of Panama coffees amongst consumers...this is largely because at the time they were typically not on public sale, a lot of roasters advertised zero Panamas, the very few that were available were ~£20/250g. I'll pay that a few times a year as a treat, so if it makes up a couple of % of my purchases, whilst drinking coffee every day, is it worth dwelling on, or significant.


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

There's pros/cons with subscriptions for me, the biggest pro being you get to try a much wider range and get things you wouldn't maybe normally pick.

I'm more of the mind currently to pick what looks good from the roasters I trust, adding in recommendations from people I trust. The roasters not only need to be good at roasting but also to provide good tasting notes that reflect what's really there, rather than spout marketing BS...

interesting read in the article thanks, I'm curious what these results would look like across the entire year rather than just for the last bag though - that's all I'm really getting at TBH.


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

The 12 roasters challenge has been good for widening horizons on roasters to trust.

My problem with the HasBean sub I used to have is that I got a few (not many) coffees that were not to my preferences.

Once you have a pool of trusted roasters it's easy to look at the tastes of what is available at any given time and choose what you fancy. It does require a little advance planning though which is where a sub scores.

Rather than the roast level of the bean i'm looking for the roaster to recommend whether it is suitable for filter.


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## salty (Mar 7, 2017)

Step21 said:


> Rather than the roast level of the bean i'm looking for the roaster to recommend whether it is suitable for
> 
> filter.


+1 to that


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

I go by tasting notes as opposed to roasting level.

I am also led by peoples recommendations on here.

My list of roasters/beans I'm wanting to try seem never ending.

Isn't it great to have such choices!


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## Elcee (Feb 16, 2017)

I drink pretty much exclusively black filter coffee so the coffee I buy is for that. I tend to focus on the tasting notes and the recommended brew methods. Roast level to me is something secondary I look at. Most coffees I buy tend to be either roasted for filter or light to medium roasted.

The only dark roasted coffee I've had was supermarket beans back in the days before I got into speciality coffee aka "dark ages". I'd like to try some that would work well in filter.


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## caffeinejunkie (May 29, 2017)

MWJB said:


> I guess I'm different in that I rarely choose the coffee I drink, I just choose the roaster I trust.
> 
> James Hoffmann took a snapshot of what people drank a couple of weeks ago...http://www.jimseven.com/2017/06/05/survey-results-consumer-vs-industry/
> 
> Interestingly, he mentioned a perceived lack of Panama coffees amongst consumers...this is largely because at the time they were typically not on public sale, a lot of roasters advertised zero Panamas, the very few that were available were ~£20/250g. I'll pay that a few times a year as a treat, so if it makes up a couple of % of my purchases, whilst drinking coffee every day, is it worth dwelling on, or significant.


When treating yourself to something in that price range what would you say you get extra for your money?

Intrigued as Red wine can be of a similar nature, value against cost!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Elcee said:


> The only dark roasted coffee I've had was supermarket beans back in the days before I got into speciality coffee aka "dark ages". I'd like to try some that would work well in filter.


Very soluble coffees can work well as immersions, perhaps pull back a bit on the ratio. Drip can be a bit brutal going from typical filter roasts unless you radically alter grind & pour regime...which I'm not keen on doing. Even with some medium roasts I'll stick them in a French press/Sowden if they're out of the usual solubility scale (as are some of the beans I'm gifted by friends & colleagues).


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## 4515 (Jan 30, 2013)

caffeinejunkie said:


> When treating yourself to something in that price range what would you say you get extra for your money?
> 
> Intrigued as Red wine can be of a similar nature, value against cost!


Sometimes with beans you are buying a more exclusive bean. That doesn't always translate into a better bean (as I found out with Kona)


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

working dog said:


> Sometimes with beans you are buying a more exclusive bean. That doesn't always translate into a better bean (as I found out with Kona)


I think that's a fair comment, there certainly is a bit of the laws of diminishing returns.

I've only been buying the more expensive stuff for about 6 months, what I've noticed is that you tend to get more complexity and finesse. I find I really enjoy sitting down and taking my time over drinking a cup, picking out all the subtle nuances. It makes me push myself to improve my technique because I want to get as much as possible out of the cup.

might just be my perception and would like to hear from the more experienced crowd but :- I think you need to make sure your technique is up to scratch 1st before spending a lot of beans, and to a certain extent your equipment if you're making spro, otherwise you're going to spend a lot on beans and not really be able to get the value out of them. What both of these things do is help you drive more clarity in the cup.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Conversely I see occasional posts about " easy and cheap beans to practice espresso with " . Practicing with untasty beans will give you untasty coffee .....

Personally if it's gonna end up on ad a milk drink then the complexities of day some lovely geishas or other rare beans may be lost in that drink .


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

MWJB said:


> I guess I'm different in that I rarely choose the coffee I drink, I just choose the roaster I trust.
> 
> James Hoffmann took a snapshot of what people drank a couple of weeks ago...http://www.jimseven.com/2017/06/05/survey-results-consumer-vs-industry/
> 
> Interestingly, he mentioned a perceived lack of Panama coffees amongst consumers...this is largely because at the time they were typically not on public sale, a lot of roasters advertised zero Panamas, the very few that were available were ~£20/250g. I'll pay that a few times a year as a treat, so if it makes up a couple of % of my purchases, whilst drinking coffee every day, is it worth dwelling on, or significant.


Cast Iron roasters had some Panamanian coffee (through a family connection) that they had up at the Manchester Coffee Festival. It was lovely, (as an espresso and filter) sold out pretty quickly and I hope they get more next year of similar quality.


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

I think I've settled on a preference for naturals. Dark light or anywhere in between. But the smellier the better- now there's a subjective opinion!


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

Missy said:


> I think I've settled on a preference for naturals. Dark light or anywhere in between. But the smellier the better- now there's a subjective opinion!


Do you find most naturals have something in common in taste Missy?


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

kennyboy993 said:


> Do you find most naturals have something in common in taste Missy?


funk!

I love a dirty natural too...


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Phobic said:


> funk!
> 
> I love a dirty natural too...


You can't dark roast a natural though . Would be sacrilege


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> You can't dark roast a natural though . Would be sacrilege


I can't think of a dark roasted natural either. Missy, you know what this means.... welcome to the light


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

I wonder if the funk disappears when roasting darker?


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

Step21 said:


> I wonder if the funk disappears when roasting darker?


This is what happens when you mistreat your beans:


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

urbanbumpkin said:


> I can't think of a dark roasted natural either. Missy, you know what this means.... welcome to the light


Coffee compass would probably

Go mahogany on this if you Asked .

http://www.coffeecompass.co.uk/shop/roasted-origin-coffee/africa/ethiopia-rockomountain-natural.html


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

What's the 'funk'?


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Coffee compass would probably
> 
> Go mahogany on this if you Asked .
> 
> http://www.coffeecompass.co.uk/shop/roasted-origin-coffee/africa/ethiopia-rockomountain-natural.html


I've not tried it so can't comment. Tasting notes mention fruit booze. I think it would kill the funk.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

kennyboy993 said:


> What's the 'funk'?


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

Lol - what about that fishermans 3-person jumper?! Pure class


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Ok, we all know i like dark stuff and especially coffee compass. I have had dark stuff from many other roasters and I generally get the impression that they have roasted it to light/medium then got and made a phonemail before killing whatever the roast is! But, having bought an Oomph I am determined to give non dark stuff a go. So, I need a bean with fruit but no acid......any suggestions?


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

dfk41 said:


> Ok, we all know i like dark stuff and especially coffee compass. I have had dark stuff from many other roasters and I generally get the impression that they have roasted it to light/medium then got and made a phonemail before killing whatever the roast is! But, having bought an Oomph I am determined to give non dark stuff a go. So, I need a bean with fruit but no acid......any suggestions?


Decaf as well I take it?


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## gcogger (May 18, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Coffee compass would probably
> 
> Go mahogany on this if you Asked .
> 
> http://www.coffeecompass.co.uk/shop/roasted-origin-coffee/africa/ethiopia-rockomountain-natural.html


I've had a mahogany roast natural from Coffee Compass before, roasted by request. I don't recall which, exactly, as it's no longer available - some sort of Ethiopian, I believe. It did make the 'funk' more subtle, no longer the dominant flavour, but it worked really well IMHO. It's a shame it's no longer available. Their old Caravanserai blend - also sadly no longer available







- included a mahogany roast natural as a major constituent, and I think that was my favourite coffee of all.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

dfk41 said:


> Ok, we all know i like dark stuff and especially coffee compass. I have had dark stuff from many other roasters and I generally get the impression that they have roasted it to light/medium then got and made a phonemail before killing whatever the roast is! But, having bought an Oomph I am determined to give non dark stuff a go. So, I need a bean with fruit but no acid......any suggestions?


You mean fruit like the stuff that grows on trees full of citric acid, malic acid and tartaric acid, flavours like that in coffee (which is basically a bunch of acids in a cup)? 

Maybe stick to the darker stuff in the Oomph, or grind coarse & use a high brew ratio.

Drip would be your best bet for balancing out the acidic flavours.

What fruit do you like the taste of?


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

Rhys said:


> Decaf as well I take it?


Same as him - and yes!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

gcogger said:


> I've had a mahogany roast natural from Coffee Compass before, roasted by request. I don't recall which, exactly, as it's no longer available - some sort of Ethiopian, I believe. It did make the 'funk' more subtle, no longer the dominant flavour, but it worked really well IMHO. It's a shame it's no longer available. Their old Caravanserai blend - also sadly no longer available
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I had a sample of that SO too . Different people, different preferences , there was little for me to distinguish it as a Ethiopian or a natural in the cup. Trend for naturals seems to be " clean and polite " currently which are tasty but again some can be so close to a great washed coffee I see little point in the process.


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## gcogger (May 18, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> I had a sample of that SO too . Different people, different preferences , there was little for me to distinguish it as a Ethiopian or a natural in the cup.


Perhaps it was a different coffee? Now that I think about it, I had 2 different mahogany roast naturals (both Ethiopian) done as a special request , at different times (I still don't recall exactly what they were). The second one didn't work anywhere near as well - I enjoyed the experiment, though


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Rhys said:


> Decaf as well I take it?


Not necessarily!


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

MWJB said:


> You mean fruit like the stuff that grows on trees full of citric acid, malic acid and tartaric acid, flavours like that in coffee (which is basically a bunch of acids in a cup)?
> 
> Maybe stick to the darker stuff in the Oomph, or grind coarse & use a high brew ratio.
> 
> ...


Foundry did a decaf that was orange tasting but no acid at all. I sent the remains of a bag onto Rhys I think to try. I prefer plum, blackcurrant to lemon and strawberry. It does not have to be decaf


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

not what you're looking for, but for some of the DSOL crew wanting to try something lighter and or a natural that still packs a punch I'm very much enjoying this

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/america/products/guatemala-los-jocotales-black-honey-x-natural

Tasting notes are bang on but cocoa dominates then lots of boozy funk, this will kick you in the balls 1st thing in the morning









BROWN SUGAR, COCOA POWDER, FUNK, MUSCOVADO SUGAR.

I've rested it for 2 weeks and it's amazing, loving it as a Cortado


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

Something to consider would be having a look at the HasBean coffees. Choose something that sounds tasty then select "cupping notes". This will give a score for several factors including sweetness and acidity (fruitiness NOT sourness!). Check also the roasting info on the same page and you will see that many beans are roasted into 2nd crack, so maybe not as light as you may anticipate.

Choose something with high sweetness and fruit flavours you like.

Its poor brewing that causes sourness it's not inherent in the bean or the roast.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

dfk41 said:


> Foundry did a decaf that was orange tasting but no acid at all. I sent the remains of a bag onto Rhys I think to try. I prefer plum, blackcurrant to lemon and strawberry. It does not have to be decaf


I'm not sure what you mean by "acid", oranges, plums & blackcurrants all contain acids & have acidity in their flavour.

If you mean the coffee was objectionably sour & made you pucker, grind finer & brew longer for a sweeter, ripe fruit character.


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## Elcee (Feb 16, 2017)

For those of you who consider themselves on the DSOL, what flavours do you look for and like in your coffees? Are your coffees mainly espresso based drinks? Do you drink them black or with milk?


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## gcogger (May 18, 2013)

Phobic said:


> not what you're looking for, but for some of the DSOL crew wanting to try something lighter and or a natural that still packs a punch I'm very much enjoying this
> 
> https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/america/products/guatemala-los-jocotales-black-honey-x-natural
> 
> ...


I recently bought a batch of 7 different HasBean coffees (in for a penny...), and this was my favourite.

(Having said that, I was very happy to get back to my usual Coffee Compass mahogany roast beans - I still don't really enjoy beans roasted much lighter than that).


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

gcogger said:


> I recently bought a batch of 7 different HasBean coffees (in for a penny...), and this was my favourite.
> 
> (Having said that, I was very happy to get back to my usual Coffee Compass mahogany roast beans - I still don't really enjoy beans roasted much lighter than that).


glad you liked it!









I suggested it as a gateway drug, it's not "light" as it's roasted to 2nd crack, but certainly isn't "dark" in that it doesn't have oil pouring out of it either. In the scheme of things it's not overpoweringly funky, but if you're a mahogany roast lover it should still be drinkable and give you an peek at what the other side of life is like....

personally I'd be brave and have a go at fruit bomb too!


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## gcogger (May 18, 2013)

Phobic said:


> glad you liked it!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Of the 7 coffees I ordered, I think 4 were naturals. I've had a few naturals over the years (most recently some Rocko Mountain from Monsoon Estates), and all the HasBean ones seemed less 'funky' than I expected.

What is 'fruit bomb'?


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

imagine a hot shot of sweet raspberry juice, no chocolate, no bitterness, no sourness.

I haven't had this myself but it's talked about often https://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/products/sweet-shop



> The idea behind Sweetshop is simple: Combine sweet and characterful coffee to create a fun, wildly complex and fruit-driven espresso. It isn't about balance. It isn't about tradition. This is about cramming as much fruit and complexity into the cup as possible. We want an espresso that doesn't taste like anything else.


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## gcogger (May 18, 2013)

Where does 'fruit bomb' come from? We were talking about HasBean, so I looked there, but can't find it on their site.


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

it's just a generic term meaning a coffee which is predominantly fruit flavour orientated


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Phobic said:


> imagine a hot shot of sweet raspberry juice, no chocolate, no bitterness, no sourness.
> 
> I haven't had this myself but it's talked about often https://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/products/sweet-shop


I generally love sweet shop.... but they on general always have some acidity to whatever the blend is .


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