# So I purchased these beans fro HasBean, first time external from a supermarket.



## RagingMammoth (Sep 21, 2013)

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/top-sellers/products/costa-rica-finca-de-licho-yellow-honey-vila-sarchi

They are only 3 days old, but they lacked...flavour. I prepared using a clever coffee dripper, and a medium coarse grind. 270 grams of water, to 18 grams of bean.

I have an AeroPress and a pour over at my disposal which I can test later, but at the moment I'm fairly concerned. I tried these beans yesterday and they where near undrinkable, so at least they have improved slightly. Do you think it's too early? help!


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## Wobin19 (Mar 19, 2013)

Yes three days is way too early. I have had these beans, but direct from Hasbean. I left 'em 10 days and they were great for espresso. Its not a heavy coffee, but certainly not lacking.


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

This coffee has a small body and very few notes, but it has a shining core of honey.

I find to get the most out of the honey you have to play around with the ballance alot...

It's certainly a little tricky to get the most out of this coffee, but I do like it.

Try it in a V60, as I think thats what the guys at HB had in mind for this and you have that added bit of extra control if you have a proper way of pouring.


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## Anthorn (Sep 14, 2013)

18g of beans in a clever seems a bit light to me if it's the large clever. Try 25g medium fine grind. Fill with water off the boil up to the top of the ribs (around 330ml) and then brew for 4 mins stirring halfway and a final stir before serving. That works with Jailbreak and produces a mild, sweet brew from the clever. (From a Moka pot it tastes like something scraped off the floor of a petrol service station at the end of the day).


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

18g/270g is fine (66.6g/l).

25/330 will give you a walloping strong brew when properly extracted...you might like it...I dunno?

You are grinding too coarse, you need to be nearer espresso, or espresso grind. Boil up some spring water (I use Volvic - if you have nice low TDS tap water that may work well, high TDS tap water may [mine's ~300ppm] result in a dull, brackish brew), rinse the filter and weigh the water into the CCD as soon as the water has stopped rolling, drop the grinds into the water & fold in, evenly wetting, when wet give the grinds a quick stir & cover. Do not stir up the grinds after this point (you can make a few gentle stirs, at the surface only, when tasting).

After about 15-20mins spoon some coffee into a cold cup, swirl & taste...if it is not as sweet as honey, put the cover back on & leave few more minutes. Don't draw down until it tastes great in the brewer...maybe 30 mins, maybe 40? Draw down will take another 3-6mins, don't fret, not a lot is going on brew-wise, it is not overextracting.

Procedure would be largely the same for the Aeropress inverted, maybe a slightly lower brew ratio & dose, the finest grind you can use that doesn't impede the plunge is what you want.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

The beans will be more dense than supermarket charcoal , thus you'll need to grind finer to extract . Marks advice is spot on .


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## Anthorn (Sep 14, 2013)

Each to his own taste. But personally at 18g I would be tempted to wash my dishes in it and at 20 mins I would already have given up and gone off to the cafe. At 30 mins or 40 mins it has entered the realms of iced coffee! Could probably bung it in the microwave.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Anthorn said:


> Each to his own taste. But personally at 18g I would be tempted to wash my dishes in it and at 20 mins I would already have given up and gone off to the cafe. At 30 mins or 40 mins it has entered the realms of iced coffee! Could probably bung it in the microwave.


Steeping takes time, no real way around it. CCD does lose heat, it is an issue from beverage temp perspective, but it's plenty warm enough to enjoy at 30-40mins.

The steep time isn't really time where you have to do any work. To brew in shorter time is possible but needs more careful weighing & protocol.

Properly extracted at 18g/270g you could end up with a brew at ~1.5%TDS. 25/330 will give you ~1.8%TDS at the sweet spot...a little weaker than a full strength moka brew, but still pretty powerful by most standards.


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## forzajuve (Feb 2, 2011)

The more you get into brewed coffee the more you realise the grind needs to be finer and the time needs to be longer. For those methods where you can, throw the timer away and taste every few minutes till you get to where you want to be. Most brewed coffees also taste better as they cool.


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## RagingMammoth (Sep 21, 2013)

So I did an aeropress brew...

20 grams of beans, finer than pour over and left for two minutes. Still incredibly unpleasant and just, plain sour. I feel really let down.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

RagingMammoth said:


> So I did an aeropress brew...
> 
> 20 grams of beans, finer than pour over and left for two minutes. Still incredibly unpleasant and just, plain sour. I feel really let down.


Did you brew the right way up, or inverted? How much water? 2 minutes is very short for inverted. I'd look at 10min minimum?

Sour sounds like under extraction, some beans stand up to this better than others, but it's not ideal whatever the bean.

It may be easier to get the sweet spot by letting the water flow through the bed, rather than have the grounds just sit in the water. Try the Aeropress the right way up, 16g/250g, bloom with 20g or so for 30 secs, gently add the rest of the water & let it drain. About half way to 2/3 it'll slow right down, taste the drips brew coming out, as it gets watery & bland, that's OK, take it off the cup if it is drying & bitter though. If it doesn't get to the watery bland part, use the plunger to get the last part of the brew out with a slow plunge.


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## snegger (Dec 15, 2010)

I have these beans now and whilst I agree they do not have a full bodied taste they imo are excellent and I'm very surprised you find them undrinkable.

It normally takes me a few try to get a drinkable brew from a new bean but with these my first one was very good, just needed a slower pulse pour (thanks MWJB)

I use 18g with 260g of water with a fine-ish grind, using a ceramic one cup 2 hole dripper.


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## Locus Solus (Apr 28, 2013)

> They are only 3 days old


Try again in 4 days, they might be better when they've degassed; if they're not, try again in 10 days; repeat, then bin the lemons.


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

can someone please explain something to me, this thread seems strange as I cant quite fathom how the beans are only 3 days old??? werent these bought from a super market? not from the roaster


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## Daren (Jan 16, 2012)

coffeechap said:


> can someone please explain something to me, this thread seems strange as I cant quite fathom how the beans are only 3 days old??? werent these bought from a super market? not from the roaster


No Dave, the title is a little misleading. It's the first time he has bought beans that were not from a supermarket - they were from Hasbean .

I can tell it's gonna be a long night for you


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

yep clearly but not as long as tomorrow


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