# 3 process beans - James Gourmet



## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

In my ever ending quest to learn all things coffee I noticed that James Gourmet have an Ethiopian Suke Quto 3 process blend.

I enquired whether I could try each element of this blend seperately to compare how the process impacts upon flavour.

Full credit to them they have created this product:

http://jamesgourmetcoffee.com/product/suke-quto-private-estate-three-separate-processes-3-x100g/?attribute_how-do-you-like-yours=Whole+Bean

I have purchased this as well as their blend to do a four way comparison.

I will update this thread with my findings, as ever.


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## GingerBen (Sep 7, 2017)

be interesting to see what you think. I have a bag of beans roasted by Stumptown in the US of the Suke Quto, it's a washed process. Will crack them out soon and compare to your notes for interest.


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## J_Fo (Dec 24, 2017)

I had some Ethiopian Suke Quto from Horsham Roasters, just checked and it was a natural, didn't realise at the time, in fact just yesterday I was thinking I'd like to try a natural coffee out... It was nice, I actually found it quite similar to the Rocko Mountain from Foundry but that may just be my underdeveloped coffee taste buds!


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

Jon_Foster said:


> I had some Ethiopian Suke Quto from Horsham Roasters, just checked and it was a natural, didn't realise at the time, in fact just yesterday I was thinking I'd like to try a natural coffee out... It was nice, I actually found it quite similar to the Rocko Mountain from Foundry but that may just be my underdeveloped coffee taste buds!


Naturals share that boozy/tangy funk. It's what makes it such a special process (imo). I'm not surprised you found them both similar. Both Ethiopian naturals grown at similar heights.


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

That is a brilliant idea! Props for asking and props to JG for actually doing it - the logistics aren't exactly trivial unless the farm was in the habit of doing that anyway. I'm really interested to hear how you get on. As anyone who's been on this forum for longer than about 5 minutes probably knows, I love naturals, especially Ethiopian, but also from the Americas. I've got so much in at the mo I can't consider buying any more coffee, even for such an interesting experiment. So much coffee, so little time!


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## J_Fo (Dec 24, 2017)

igm45 said:


> Naturals share that boozy/tangy funk. It's what makes it such a special process (imo). I'm not surprised you found them both similar. Both Ethiopian naturals grown at similar heights.


Good to know my taste buds aren't too far off point!









TBH I hadn't realised that the Rocko Mountain was a natural as well... It's nice to be learning though!

I've just noticed that Caravan has a three process Geisha for sale, it's a little unclear on the website (or maybe that's just me) but I've emailed them to clarify exactly what you get... will update when they get back to me.

https://www.caravancoffeeroasters.co.uk/collections/coffee/products/finca-deborah-geisha?variant=38258220362


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

Jon_Foster said:


> Good to know my taste buds aren't too far off point!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ah yes, I see your point. Please do keep me updated. Looks like (yet another) product I'd be interested in.


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## J_Fo (Dec 24, 2017)

igm45 said:


> Ah yes, I see your point. Please do keep me updated. Looks like (yet another) product I'd be interested in.


Apologies


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Hehe - I love that they said the following "We thought, rather than roasting three profiles of the different processes from the same farm, which would be interesting for us and probably a single trainspotter somewhere, we thought we could try this easy way of tasting all of the elements together. "

I can imagine a few of us Coffeespotters are interested in this...I might get on board because I'd like to support it being separated as well


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

jlarkin said:


> Hehe - I love that they said the following "We thought, rather than roasting three profiles of the different processes from the same farm, which would be interesting for us and probably a single trainspotter somewhere, we thought we could try this easy way of tasting all of the elements together. "
> 
> I can imagine a few of us Coffeespotters are interested in this...I might get on board because I'd like to support it being separated as well


I noticed that too!

I meant to post it on this thread but never got around to it.

Geek level - max ...


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## J_Fo (Dec 24, 2017)

Just heard back from Caravan & you get the 3 different processes of Geisha totalling 135g for £30... Let's hope it's something special!!


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

#trainspotter here... Just about to order!


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

Missy said:


> #trainspotter here... Just about to order!


How you getting on?

I'm about to start...


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

igm45 said:


> How you getting on?
> 
> I'm about to start...


Really enjoying them. Fascinated that actually I think I like Ethiopian beans rather than natural beans (if that makes sense?) It's been really interesting.to taste them side by side and all together, there is a common theme but different emphases... Bit like an orchestral "variations"


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

Missy said:


> Really enjoying them. Fascinated that actually I think I like Ethiopian beans rather than natural beans (if that makes sense?) It's been really interesting.to taste them side by side and all together, there is a common theme but different emphases... Bit like an orchestral "variations"


Sounds really good,

How have you been drinking them? V60 or espresso?

Are they all set to the same grind setting or vary wildly?


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

Espresso. I've used the aeropress but aren't enjoying them as much that way. I've got a cold so espresso is pulling less subtle tastes out, i think it's all a bit delicate for brewed with a bunged up nose!

I've been adjusting how hard I Tamp rather than grind setting, the natural runs slighty faster and the blend slightly slower. So a slightly longer natural shot with a firmer tamp seems to work well. (eg 18>42 not 18>36 I'm doing with the others)


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

Direct comparison tests this morning.

The 1st thing I can take away from the test is like @Missy, I enjoyed the beans, not the process.

I spent yesterday dialling the beans in.

Natural and pulped both had the same grinder setting 6.8

The washed required a few steps coarser at 7.6

This morning I prepared all 3 as espresso and completed a direct comparison.

The pulped natural shared many similarities to the natural with less booziness, it was more of a subtle funk as opposed to the 'disco Stu' in the natural.

The washed was thinner mouthfeel but cleaner citrus in the cup.

Fair play to the roaster those, fantastic coffee.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

I'd posted to instagram about this as well. So my thoughts are here

I primarily brewed them but the blend was a nice espresso as well - I mainly did that because I had more of the blend .

If you see other small packs like this let me know if you could? I enjoy trying them side by side.


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## J_Fo (Dec 24, 2017)

jlarkin said:


> I'd posted to instagram about this as well. So my thoughts are here
> 
> I primarily brewed them but the blend was a nice espresso as well - I mainly did that because I had more of the blend .
> 
> If you see other small packs like this let me know if you could? I enjoy trying them side by side.


ICYMI At the top of this page I mention that Caravan are doing this with some Gesha at the moment


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Jon_Foster said:


> ICYMI At the top of this page I mention that Caravan are doing this with some Gesha at the moment


Thanks! I'd seen that - it's a little expensive for me at this time. Other months or times I would have jumped on it . It's a fairly ideal setup that aside.


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## J_Fo (Dec 24, 2017)

I hear you, I was gonna get some myself but decided to invest elsewhere in the end... I think you're probably paying quite a lot for the packaging...

One for the birthday or Christmas











jlarkin said:


> Thanks! I'd seen that - it's a little expensive for me at this time. Other months or times I would have jumped on it . It's a fairly ideal setup that aside.


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

That was the other amazing thing about the James Gourmet offering. They were such good value, no ridiculous "pimped up" packaging, just fabulously fascinating beans. Think it was only around £18 for 300g of seperates and 250g of the blend... Including post.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Missy said:


> That was the other amazing thing about the James Gourmet offering. They were such good value, no ridiculous "pimped up" packaging, just fabulously fascinating beans. Think it was only around £18 for 300g of seperates and 250g of the blend... Including post.


Absolutely - really good value and good of them to do it when they hadn't planned to


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## Planter (Apr 12, 2017)

I've visited James' Gourmet Coffee site in Ross on Wye. With the intention of picking up some formula 6 to try. After a couple minutes of general chit chat Peter took me into the coffee testing room. Spent over an hour there trying different coffees and playing around with 3 EKs he had set up and the espresso machines he had. He has a very, very good setup. I tried lots of different blends/beans and bought a couple bags and left, I was extremely caffeinated.

I now always buy my coffee from them. He didn't need to spend all that time with me. I didn't expect it. But I got it. It was a great experience and first class service for what is a small client.


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

jlarkin said:


> I'd posted to instagram about this as well. So my thoughts are here
> 
> I primarily brewed them but the blend was a nice espresso as well - I mainly did that because I had more of the blend .
> 
> If you see other small packs like this let me know if you could? I enjoy trying them side by side.


Will do,

Nice read on your instagram post. I'm yet to try the blend. In terms of my favourite its trickier than I thought it would be. I'll go with pulped natural as I felt that offered the best of both worlds. The natural funk combined with the subtler flavours of the bean, mouthfeel between those and the washed was notoceable.

I've got enough of each to do a AP test with then this afternoon.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Finished the natural, now onto the washed. Both very enjoyable, if very different, easy to extract too.


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