I did a bean thread last well and had an amazing time so I wanted to try to make it a consistent thing so here’s another one! I expanded it to new brewing methods or tips anyone has tried.
I’ve been doing Black Cat espresso (https://www.target.com/p/intelligentsia-direct-trade-black-cat-classic-espresso-roast-dark-roast-whole-bean-coffee-12oz/-/A-15354287) from intelligentsia and been pulling pretty good Moka pot shots with it.
Find a local roaster and buy directly from them. Near guaranteed you’ll like it more than what’s available from Target. Price should be similar as well.
If you can’t find a local roaster, a good backup is to buy beans from a local coffee shop. While they probably don’t roast their own beans, they likely will sell good quality beans which have been roasted within the past week or two by their wholesale provider.
Anything roasted within a month is fresh enough to produce nicely complex coffee.
I usually used local roasters but had a giftcard for target and wanted one of those back up bean bags for when my local stuff ran out hence the target coffee. Been tight on money recently since getting married.
Great use of the gift card! So how does it compare to your typical source?
It’s a good coffee, very one dimensional though. That’s the main thing I’ve noticed from the grocery store single origin to roaster single origins. I never knew coffee was fruity until I got a small roaster brand from Ethiopia and never looked back. It’s nice everyone once and a while to go back to a simple coffee though and I usually keep a bag like that for when people come over and don’t want a fermented and acidity light roast
Freshness is the thing; for my local coffee there are actually versions available in the supermarket, but they’re never as good as what I can buy from a local source that has them roasted within the last few days.