I have an almost religious identity as a French Press coffee person: I love the flavor that emerges from coffee when it has time to steep in boiling water without having a paper filter come between me and the oils. Our local roasters are so good that I also have a dark-roast-as-choice-not-to-hide-poor-bean-quality set of beliefs and tastes: gently dark-roasted coffee can taste RICH without bitterness. I have had over-roasted beans, and dislike those flavors; but a skilled roaster doesn’t go so far. In addition to my press, I have a single-cup pour-over device from a local fancy place, and use it for small servings, but am dissatisfied with the off-brand filters I’ve been using with it. I periodically have medium or (rarely) light roasts that I enjoy, especially when Ethiopian coffee has that almost blueberry aftertaste, but that can go too far for me, and I revert back to dark roasts in my daily habits.
And yet two things happened last week: my friend New K gifted me a bag of Oakland-roasted medium roast beans from Hire Wire, and I won a knockoff Chemex-style, paperless pour-over brewing kit at the gift exchange at work.
Oh. My. Goodness.
Conscientious Objector is at about the 70% mark on High Wire’s “roast intensity” scale. The beans are medium-light brown, but oh do they make a gloriously inky, opaque pot of pour-over.
This coffee, which High Wire notes will change seasonally and from crop to crop, is smooth, fragrant, flavorful, and delicious. I prepared it in my beloved French Press and enjoyed it hot (to most accurately compare it to my usual beans); I chilled some of the French Press, and enjoyed it iced; and finally, I broke out the new pour-over device, and ran sub-boiling water through the grinds while they got all creamy during stirring.
So GOOD.
I am eager for a cup every morning (and am on vacation from work, so I have a chance to make it at a civilized pace!). I brewed some during my mother’s visit and made her a sweetened version with almond milk; she gave up coffee decades ago, and claims she doesn’t even like coffee now, but loved it so much I made a multi-serving jar for her to take home with her!
Friends with great taste in coffee are great friends.
