Wow, I see you're a fellow coffee snob, actually, much more like a true, bona fide coffee virtuoso! Your knowledge, training and experience definitely far surpass mine!
I used to roast my own, but eventually moved away from it because of the time and attention involved. These days, I'm likin' the stuff from a local Mom and Pop roastery, although I've also recently taken a fondness for the surprisingly decent Ethiopian from Trader Joe's. It's a far cry from the utterly exquisite, downright intoxicating Yirgacheffee I used to get from that same roastery, but nonetheless quite pleasant for a grocery store coffee. You mentioned Tanzanian Peaberry, also a great African that used to be available here but is long gone these days. FWIW, the Trader Joe's Ethiopian contains lots of peaberries; not quite sure why they didn't hand-sort those out during processing and sell them as a higher priced specialty.
I agree with percolator coffee - tastes and smells like burnt rubber.
I had no idea there was an actual standardized set of parameters for a proper espresso! Although, I did learn from personal experience that rather small variations in grind, tamping and pressure will yield widely varying results. I wish I could remember the name brand of that really good Italian stuff my friend sent me, but even the cheap "everyday brand" he sent bested Lavazza.
That said, mocha pots DO make good, dark, strong coffee and I frequently use that type of coffee maker for variety.
The little Bialetti does make good tasting stuff, but I just can't live without a good crema, which it doesn't do.
I believe the most staunchly held misconception about coffee, in general, and espresso, in particular; is the myth one must burn the beans to make a strong dark cup. Starbucks perpetuates the myth by burning its beans.
Yep, my wife and I call it "Starburnt." I've had Starbucks maybe 3 times, and that was more than enough to figure out they're using cheap beans roasted full French to mask the defects in the origin flavors.
I used to get this knockout Costa Rican Tarrazu SHB from another local roastery, that he roasted just to the end of first crack. Being a single varietal Costa Rican, it was a little thinner in the cup than I prefer. But, it had the most exquisite, bright, vibrant, zingy acidity (I called it "dancing across the tongue" acidity!), even more than Costa Ricans typically do, with an equally fine aroma and flavor. Sadly, when those few bags were gone, he never got any more that was quite as good. The only other coffee I've had with that same quality (though not quantity) of acidity was a Peruvian, that I bought a small sample of to try. It was light across the tongue, with a soft, silky medium-light body, exquisite floral notes and a bright, citrusy finish. When I went back for more, they were sold out.
Anyway, he was leery of going darker on the roast, but at my request roasted me a pound in one of his little proof roasters until the threshold of second crack. He was right. While it was indeed fuller bodied and technically more balanced, in just those couple of minutes it lost far too much of its magic acidity and origin flavors, replacing them with generic roasty flavors. Despite the super high, diamond-hard bean density, it simply didn't hold up in the roast the way a high-grade Sulawesi or Sumatra does. Dumping and quenching at the end of first crack was spot-on perfect. Mental note to self: don't second guess or try to outsmart someone who's been roasting the best coffee in the state professionally for 30 years.
Nowadays, I avoid all of them and roast my own blend of beans from Sumatra, Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Brazil, occasionally adding Columbian or Tanzanean Peaberry beans for variety or to stretch a batch.
I tried my hand at blending for standard brewed coffee a few times, but promptly gave up. My first attempt was to blend that magic Costa Rican with a full City roasted Sumatra Mandehling. I thought, "Hey, mixing deep, smoky, dark, heavy, syrupy body with brightness, complexity and beautiful acidity will be the perfect cup, right? Wrong. It was awful, almost undrinkably awful. I learned right there that it's more of an art than a science, and a couple of further attempts were more or less equally unimpressive.
My one success was the proven recipe of Indian Mysore and Yemen Mokka, a synergistic blend with a deep complexity of intriguing, exotic flavors. Both are now pretty much unobtainable these days, and prohibitively expensive on the rare occasions I encounter them. I love good Mocha Java from Indonesia, but it's definitely
not the same as dry-processed Yemen Mokka. Much like that one Ethiopian Yirgacheffee I used to get, a good Yemen Mokka will change your life.
I also have several other coffee makers, including French press, Vietnamese coffee maker, percolator, and others. I also use a Turkish Ibrik/Cezve and make authentic Turkish style coffee enjoyed in Eastern Europe. A local Mediteranean grocery owner taught me how, and sells me proper coffee laced with cardamom. Of course, the curse of this method is the tremendous sludge of very finely ground coffee in the cup, and even more in the pot! Sheesh! What a mess - makes French Press seem neat and tidy!
We used to have an international grocery store here, that I frequented for their deli gyros, hummus, feta and Turkish coffee, all of which were the best I've ever had. The owner was an Armenian guy who'd lived in Lebanon and Turkey, and I learned a great deal about food and coffee from him. Eventually, I fairly well mastered the "shaky hand" technique of dispensing from the ibrik without getting too much sediment in the cup. Until, I accidentally knocked it off the top of the fridge one day, of course landing right on the bottom corner/edge and caving it in quite badly. I threw it away and never replaced it. Haven't thought of that in a long time, but since I do always keep cardamom pods on hand for making Indian food, maybe it's time to acquire another one...
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We checked and there is room to use about a 2' long passive sacrificial anode, but for now I'm going high technology.
