It’s Saturday! And it’s time for a coffee post again! This may be the best morning throughout the week, because I have a bit more time to enjoy and experiment with coffee preparation. Of course I have more time to enjoy my precious black gold beverage too! Today’s star will be my recently favorite Dabov Signature Blend.
It is an exclusive specialty coffee which is a blend of several excellent coffee varieties, gathered from different countries. I found myself to have the preference in ordering 1kg bags of coffee with my last orders. This surely has some advantages. The first one is that the coffee comes to be a bit cheaper when bought in bigger bags. Secondly, when I have my grinder settings right for a particular coffee, then it’s easier to remember and tune the grinding size a bit when needed. There is one little disadvantage, though… when I have these big bags, I have to store the coffee properly once opened. Probably I will need to buy one of these storage containers soon?
Source: https://www.amazon.com/Planetary-Design-Airscape-Storage-Canister/dp/B00167XN14
It has a floating sealed top that will minimize the oxygen that will eventually reach the beans. Of course, this will keep the beans fresh for longer time and you will not have to worry about getting the air out of the bag anymore.
Side note: So you know that only 5% of the world coffee productions gets classified as Specialty coffee and only the best of this gets to the Cup of Excellence competition? And still you can buy these fine beans at a very reasonable price. You just have to find a small roaster near you.
Now to the main topic! Comparing coffees that have different roast dates. I managed to keep a bunch of beans of Dabov Signature blend from my November order and it has a roast date 08.11.2022. The big bag has a roast date 15.12.2022, which makes more than a month difference between the roasting date of the two batches. Will that make that big of a difference? Time to find out!
Visually, both the batches are similar and have the same degree of roasting. As far as I know, Mr Dabov owns one of the best available small coffee roasting ovens, so this is to be expected. If you want to offer the best product, you have to process it with a great care and detail and of course with the best technique that exists.
Now let’s proceed to grinding! I decided to choose espresso method for this experiment. I’m pretty confident that my espresso preparation process gives a very consistent results, and if there is a difference between the two batches, it will stand out in this vivid and concentrated flavor.
A quick note for those who don’t grind their beans fresh: If you want to improve your coffee by a lot, this is the first step to make. Find a good grinder, that will fit your preparation technique and grind fresh! There’s nothing better than a freshly ground coffee aroma! Definitely my favorite step when preparing the coffee.
I started with the older beans. They were ground already and waiting in the portafilter.
When brewing that shot, I noticed it was running a bit quickly, but nothing that worrying at all. It was in the norms and due to my expectations.
Time for the second shot! The freshly roasted coffee seemed to come out a bit slower, but not by much. I have to say they had about a second or two difference, which is can be neglected.
Visually, both the shots looked similar, although the first one does have a different and thinner crema. This is only due to the time it was sitting aside. The shots had about 3-4 minutes difference in their brewing. I have to say they both had the same amount of crema right after brewing.
I started with the older coffee, because it was brewed first and wasn’t that hot already. If this was the only shot I would be very happy with it. It had this fruitiness and very balanced and thick body. Seemed alright generally!
The second shot really has another layer of fruitiness and a bit of additional sourness. I use the word sourness to describe this delicate additional freshness that added a bit more flavor to the cup.
When I had the second sip of the first coffee, I noticed there was a bit of astringency added to the overall flavor, but it was not that noticeable and could be neglected if you had only this shot.
Both the coffees had pretty similar tastes, and it was a bit more pleasurable to taste the fresher beans.
In conclusion I have to say that the roasting date does matter for sure, but if you store your beans properly, you’ll be ok with a couple of months storing time. I think when you store ground beans this time shortens pretty quick. And that’s another reason to buy a grinder, if you don’t have one.
That’s for today! Wish you a beautiful weekend full of warm
feelings! See you soon!