This happened yesterday!
Tag: brewing coffee
Metronome made my heart beat.
It took me too long to get to Metronome Coffee. I first heard of Metronome when competing at regionals in Tacoma. For some reason I never made it to the cafe. Seven months later on a sleepy Sunday I decided it was time. My friend Chad came along for the ride. He had tweeted earlier in the morning that he wanted some coffee so I invited him to join me. It’s a 40 minute drive from Oly to Tacoma, not bad.
There is no lack of natural lighting at Metronome. Windows line the street and make the cafe feel more open. Two large mainly glass garage doors face S. Union Ave. further opening up the space. I love the layout of this cafe. There is a variety of seating options, you could pull up to the bar and order a coffee or beer, sit outside, chill next to the fire or study on the stage. Metronome is also set up to be a quality venue for musicians. Something to mention is the series of blown up Polaroid pictures that spell out Tacoma. Another nice touch is access to the iTunes library that’s hooked up to WiFi, download the Remote app from iTunes and you can request a song to play on the system. It’s like a digital jukebox. OK let’s talk coffee.
First I ordered a macchiato that was made on a beautiful Victoria Arduino Adonis. Seriously hot machine. Seriously awesome macchiato. Josh showed up and invited us up to the bar. He made two siphons of some really tasty Peruvian coffee, one with a metal filter and the other with glass. Josh has come up with some non coffee drinks too. A splash in the pond was next, its double strength early grey tea poured over ice and charged with CO2 add that to a cup with ice top with half & half and a little vanilla bean simple syrup. This was one of the best drinks I’ve ever had…ever. Next the elderflower lemonade, refreshing. The sake it to me: a frosted mint iced mocha with 4oz fortified double barrel sake blew my mind it was so tasty.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Metronome. The service was great, the coffee was delicious and it feels like home. I recommend to anyone in the area that hasn’t been to Metronome MAKE IT HAPPEN! You will not be disappointed!
P.S. Metronome will be hosting a TNT August 25th…so there’s a good reason!
Here is a link to my Metronome Flickr set: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvvQXyK
Official TNT NW Blog: http://tntnorthwest.wordpress.com/
Sunday Lab Session
This Sunday I will be hosting an open lab at Espresso Parts from 10-3. The lab will be strictly slow brew, no espresso. In the near future I will hold an espresso lab session but for now we will focus on manual brewing. Batdorf & Bronson has donated three pounds of Guatemala Antigua for us to play with. Huge thanks to them for helping out and being an active member of the coffee community! Feel free to bring any coffee you have that you might want me to help you brew better. I look forward to seeing you there!
_Panda
Kalita Wave
I decided to spend some time with the Kalita Wave this afternoon. First off I love the how the wave looks, its shiny stainless steel with ridges hence the wave I presume. It has a brown plastic handle with little brass embellishments. I’ve mainly done pour-overs with the Hario V-60 so this shiny device is a nice alternative. It has three ridges on the bottom of the inside to keep the filter from stopping the water flow. The water flow is slower than with a V-60 so I went two steps coarser on my grind. After side by side tasting the natural brown filter MUST be pre-washed.
For my pour I did a 70g bloom for 30 seconds
then I added half the brew water let it sit for ten seconds
and added the remaining water in a circular motion. What ended up in the cup was caramel and walnut up front with a light floral mid and a sweet creamy finish.
Bolivia Cafe Golondrina
| Extraction Yield | 20.32 % |
| TDS | 1.26 % |
| Dose Weight | 26.0 g |
| Brew Water Weight | 466 g |
Coffee Details
| Brew Water Start Temp | 93°C/200°F |
| Brew Time | 2 mins 39 secs |
| Method | Pour Over |
| Roaster Name | Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. |
| Roast Style | Medium |
| Farm/Farmer | Celso David Mayata Quispe |
| Grinder | Mahlkoenig Guatemala |
| Grind Setting | 8 |
Kalita wave
Level one BGA certification
This post is for any PNW Baristas that would like to continue their coffee education. I am planning to hold certifications here in Olympia before Camp Pull-A-Shot. If you are interested please contact me at panda@espressoparts.com. Let’s get together and learn!
http://www.baristaguildofamerica.net/CERTIFICATION%20PROGRAM/BGA%20Level%201%20Cert.pdf
_Panda
Lab fun time
Michael Cannon and I brewed some coffee together today. Cannon had never used a refractometer before so I showed him how. We started with the Zojirushi Zutto. I have recently fallen in love with this little guy. The Zutto is pretty much an automated Melitta pour over. It has a charcoal filter that acts as a dispersion screen. Water comes out in pulses one every couple of seconds. The lid to the carafe has a star shape opening which also aids in dispersing water, under that the cone shape filter(use #2 Melitta paper filter). The water comes out of the spray head at 200°F, after the water has gone through the coffee and filter it looses 24°F. On top of all that it only takes seven minutes to brew. FYI I’m not getting paid to write this nor am I trying to sell you anything I am just really impressed with the quality of cup this automatic dripper produces! My biggest problem with this brewer is the hot plate under the carafe.
Costa Rica Las Lajas Dona Mirella Perla Negra
| Extraction Yield | 21.28 % |
| TDS | 0.98 % |
| Dose Weight | 30.0 g |
| Brew Water Weight | 705 g |
Coffee Details
| Brew Water Start Temp | 93°C/200°F |
| Brew Time | 7 mins 0 secs |
| Method | Drip |
| Roaster Name | Seattle Coffee Works |
| Roast Style | Medium – Dark |
| Farm/Farmer | Dona Fransisco Cubillo |
| Grinder | Mahlkonig Guatemala |
| Grind Setting | 6 |
Location
| 47.0455° N, 122.8951° W |
Note
Zojirushi Zutto
Next we brewed with the Aeropress. No fancy technique needed, simply put a paper filter into the cap attach it to the brewing chamber and place the brewing chamber onto a vessel to brew into, grind and add your weighed coffee to the brewing chamber fill with water stir for ten seconds and press. You end up with a clean cup similar to an americano but not as rich if it had been made with espresso.
Burundi Kiryama Micro Lot
| Extraction Yield | 17.35 % |
| TDS | 1.52 % |
| Dose Weight | 21.0 g |
| Brew Water Weight | 278 g |
Coffee Details
| Brew Water Start Temp | 93°C/200°F |
| Brew Time | 1 min 4 secs |
| Method | |
| Roaster Name | Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. |
| Roast Style | Medium – Light |
| Farm/Farmer | Kiryama Union Members |
| Grinder | Mahlkonig Guatemala |
| Grind Setting | 6 |
Location
| 47.0455° N, 122.8951° W |
***THERE WILL BE A POST SOON AFTER THIS TO EXPLAIN WHAT AND HOW A REFRACTOMETER IS USED. Continue reading “Lab fun time”
US Brewers Cup
Our very own Olympia Barista’s Michael Cannon and Jared Gum have killed it today at the US Brewers Cup in Houston! I am so proud that these Baristas have made it to finals! I have had the pleasure of calling both of these people co-workers, and I can’t think of anyone more deserving of the title. Gum and Cannon have both shown that they are talented and savvy enough to take this title home. As we await for the winner we can only be proud that two people from Olympia are putting our coffee culture on the map!
_Panda
Thoughts of Clouds 