i bought a pallet of malawi coffee, which is a brand new origin for me. i bought it knowing it was coming from the best estate in the country, and with high recommendation from the importer, but i had to buy it without tasting it. i’ve tried to buy the last two crops, and it always sells out before it even arrives in the usa. so this time i bought it while it was still at sea.
i roasted it, tasted it: awful. again. awful. again. awful. i roasted it to 10 different temperatures. of the 10 batches, there were two medium roast batches, within 10 seconds of each other, that were great, and one dark batch that was decent. and then i also drank 7 really bad cups of coffee. of the two best results, i further refined it after additional testing, and pinpointed the single very best way to roast the coffee. 15 minutes and 48 seconds, 416 degrees, and now i can appreciate why it always sells out. grind it, smell the grinds: blackberry. brew it, taste it, there’s red wine, sweet tangy notes with an underlying caramel base. mmm….
i drink bad coffee so you don’t have to.