We have currently been working with and sampling beans from Northbound Coffee Roasters out of Shasta, CA. They are kind and sent a handful of beans. Some light and medium roasts and a dark roast.

In starting to prepare for selling drinks, we have been trying out different water. In the past, we have just been using Davis tap water when making coffee at home. We would like to have a better water option, so we started with some Crystal Geyser which is much softer than the Davis tap. Most filtered drinking water is going to be softer. However, in making the first cups of coffee, there was something off about the taste. We were getting a metallic pungent taste. We tried the various roasts we were sent, changed some water:grounds ratios, changed water temp and brew method. We only change one variable at a time, but those are ones we played around with.

We have come to realize that perhaps straight filtered drinking water isn't the best option. We have known that the right alkalinity and generally Mg and Ca will make for a good cup of coffee. In looking up the values of Crystal Geyser water, we saw that it was lacking some key numbers. Then we looked up the Davis drinking water report and saw that the values were on the higher side, as previously known. To adjust, we have just made a mixture of half tap and half Crystal Geyser.

Two other factors that may have affected the initial brews being a weird taste are user error. When we got the sample beans, we increased the water temp we normally brew pour over at (93 C) to 97 C. We also are now using Hario V60 brewers. We have returned back to a lower temp and worked on the amount of water per pours and agitation while pouring. Cups are tasting better.

We have also been working on some cold brew recopies. We received 3 type of beans that could be used for cold brew. We crated 6 cold brew samples by making a 1:8 and 1:12 grounds to water ratio for each type of coffee. The water was 500 g. We have made a set with only Crystal Geyser and it was okay. Cold brew is more forgiving. The flavor was pretty neutral and drinkable but nothing of note. The half and half water batch has more flavor and is giving some more subtle pleasant notes.

We will continue to test recipies.