*AeroPress Premium* – available in 3 colors now: https://aeropress.com/products/aeropress-coffee-maker-premium
*Master coffee water now* (skip years of frustration): https://coffeechronicler.gumroad.com/l/h20
Stuff mentioned:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6863779/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32031262/
https://theroasterspack.com/pages/q-a-with-eldric-stuart-of-aesir-filters?srsltid=AfmBOopNn3kijdQ2E0HhTO4U79ywD49KlHw6cNA3FEiYWaHvSzowbSKN
0:00 – Intro: The Problem with Funky Naturals
0:57 – Sponsor Notice: AeroPress
1:43 – The Traditional Approach (And Its Limitations)
2:05 – Discovery at World Brewers Cup: Carlos Escobar’s Technique
2:54 – The Science: Glutamic Acid and Umami in Coffee
5:11 – UC Davis Research: Early Extraction Compounds
6:36 – The Recipe
8:42 – Plunging Technique
9:25 – Adding Back the Concentrate: Dialing In Funk
10:45 – Selective Extraction Theory
11:19 – When to Use This Method
11:32 – Final Thoughts
30 Comments
AeroPress Premium – available in 3 colors now: https://aeropress.com/products/aeropress-coffee-maker-premium
Master coffee water now (skip years of frustration): https://coffeechronicler.gumroad.com/l/h20
I tried this with a simple strawberry co-ferment and an extremely funky co-ferment from jario arcilla called Halloween candy.
It has massively improved the coffee. Thank you so much
What grinder did you use in this video?
I've tried this on an ultra light roast Kenyan, the umami tomato flavor was too much for my taste. I like it better now with this technique. The leftover of the initial pour tastes like salted tomato.
Would this work in a V60 if you just discard the bloom? Or is there another component I’m missing?
Game changer! This brought the magic back into my Indonesian coffee
Can't wait to play around with this
How would you do this in a switch?
This was honestly fascinating. One to try for sure!
What grinder is on the far right? I was exchanging dms with ling long about his 64mm electric grinder. Looks super well built but I’ve been loving the coffees from my zp6 these days. Your write up on the a4z sounds promising. I’ve typically used flat burrs while working so thought I should get the 64mm platform so tinker with but if a cup from the a4z is that good why not
I’ve been wondering about this kind of thing because I took tours of whiskey distilleries and they have the heart the head and the tails where they focus on the part of the extraction that tastes best.
I'm one of the weirdos who find the umami, "sauccison sec" flavour the absolute best part of anaerobics. I'm now considering making two shots and putting the initial extraction of one into the other…
Thanks this is super interesting! Does this also work for espresso?
I was told about this by Andrew from the Source in Edinburgh who tends to do almost exclusively super funky coffees
He advised to brew at mid 80s, with super short ratios using a flat bottom dropper
18g coffee
Bloom 30g, discard bloom
Then 4x50g for 200g total
This definitely cleared up the cup a whole lot and now I use this for all my funky coffees!
Interesting idea. You could also maybe try adding that extra funky bit to a more Normal boring coffee and see how that affects it. I got a funky pineapple tasting coffee that often has some gross notes to it as well if not brewed in specific ways so I'll try this with that one.
Video suggestion, if you can get them to send you for review, Geimori GU64 single dose coffee grinder .
Single handedly saved my opinion on funky heavily processed. Still love Washed but wow is this great.
Fun fact (do not try), if you add MSG (monosodium glutamate, the umami stuff) to coffee, it will taste so vile and repulsive that your day will be ruined. If glutamate really is in any coffee beans after roasting, I can assure you its foul. I love anaerobic coffees and am unbothered by the vinegar (balsamic to me) aspect, so it's hard to imagine glutimates in there.
Will this work for espresso as well?
I’ve now tried this technique on my Decent and my Aeropress. I used an experimental fermentation that I bought from DAK, their Milky Cake, if you know it.
We often speak of bad flavors from coffee brewing as being associated with extended brew times. It seems obvious now, but I don’t think I ever really thought about the possibility that “off flavors” might be concentrated at the beginning of the extraction. But that is exactly what I’ve confirmed, having replicated Asser C’s results with both brewing methods. The early part of both extractions contained most of the funk, and I was able to balance the flavor of the brew by adding back only some of it to the latter part of the extraction.
I’m wondering if anyone else has used a segmented extraction technique and found something similar, especially with funky and wild anaerobic or other experimental fermentations.
muy complicado yet very interesting. Not sure I'll try exactly this, but may taste a beginning. middle and end of a pour over. Never fell in love with my aeropress. Also for me too much precision "overdoing it" makes making coffee less joyful….
analogous to distilling liquor in a way……heads hearts and and tails. Hmmmm or a story beginning middle and end. Throwing away some of the heads I see.
OK you've inspired me to do a heads hearts tails experiment "real time" like now I divided my pourover ( 30 gs to 360 gs) into imprecise thirds…….using my clever. It's Ethiopian. I also have self heating mugs. Here foes. Beginning…….very good, I don't have great descriptors for it….and whoops this mug wasn't charged so not at temp……sweet…….slightly sour in a good way………..maybe just a wee bit vegeral…..Not your berry fruitiness of some Ethiopians. Number two, middle now cups working I think I have set at 137 sweeter thicker richer but not all that disimilar…….slight acidity neither have been at all bitter but a nice sour. I'd go as far as to say very sweet. Not a funky brew, nor standard. aroma, well not so much but there is a factor I'll reveal towards the end in my coffee brewing my innovation which I think is kinda brilliant, might change some's game. OK the ends……….taste 3. I gotta say as this is my 1st and only cup of the day, the morning brew b4 anyone better talk to me. this "coitus interruptus" wont be my usual ceremony. Hmmmm will the third be bad like when my buddy just pours water over the spent grinds?Will it be the bitter end? Here goes. temp is right, woah……..This may be the best. There has been no enormous variation. perhaps a tad thinner. nice moth feel. Good to the last drop. all gone. All 3 were tasty. I imagine they would have been better all together, so many variables, so much subjectivity, and its not like I had a plate cleanser between each cup like it was some wine bar…………[I'll edit with coffee notes from Pine Coffee] Innovation ice bowl top to cool quickly…..here goes…….I cant like without my heating cup anymore and it is my go-to gfit for coffee loving friends, but what about cooling? Solved in a not so elegant manner. My brew today was clever warmed up with a filter rine, the boiling water CONVINCED the hotter the better for extraction then used the grinds on top method….my go to for the clever. Did not time brew. Brushing my teeth is my timer. thin dripped through each mug 1, 2, 3,…………and put an "ice bowl" atop, I literally keep a small bowl with water in the freezer that fills perfectly atop and when I make full cups touches the top of the brew and seals in anything from evaporation. Silly? I love it…..yeah it one more step, but IMO your getting more aromatics from escaping and that is arguable. I used to just put a top on but that would lake IDK 10-15 mins to drop to temp. try tasting the condensation, there is def. flavor there.With an icy top, gets to temp in like 3 mins. My glass bowl has yet to crack. not sure if its "oven proof" give it a try. I have a funkier Columbian Guava Banana I'll divide up tomorrow. It's my favorite, but I'm scared I have a bad batch…….my cup was super vegetal yesterday. not funky or fruity. Maybe it was roasted too recently….contacted the roaster.
"funky natural" pour over in 1/3rds. 1st 100 ml brewed: whoah, basically just STRONG bitter thick….a large part of the 1st pour of water was soaked up in the grounds. this is super concentrated. 100 mill def didn't come out. Its an extract I suppose. Tongue killer. shoulda measured grams in and out. this might only be 30ml. espresso like. Not terrible. nothing subtle, some sweet aftertaste bitter and astringent 4sure. 2nd "third" quite a bit more in the cup for these middles. keep in mind tongue is numbed from 1st. Vegetal, not liking it. thinner of course than one. Normal, unenticing, meh…sweet still. 3rd third……….NOOOOOOOO. my ice top bowl cracked for the 1st time and the water leaked into it. I am a failed coffee scientist. it is now sick water. back to the pouring board. Yesterday I forgot to put the container for the grinder below it. two 1st thing in the morning disasters in a row. Grrrr.
Its very refreshing and relieving when i see other coffee enthusiasts nerding out over resicpes and brewing variables. This is one of my favorite channels
interesting…
I am now curious how many fractions I can get and taste each.
With any "new coffee" brew in small pulses and capture each in a different cup to taste and blend.
This could be easy with most brewers: an aeropress, the new V60 One Pour Dripper MUGEN and both valve pour over cone brewers: switch or clever.
The "funky coffee" may be hard to find but any coffee could have secrets.
The adventure begins…
Is that a ZP6 or K Ultra?
Finally feeling some vindication hahaha. I used this process for my brews at Aubade and also Harken in Vancouver, as well as in Aeropress competitions, but almost no one took the concept seriously. I would set aside the initial part of the brew (I would do more water to not only capture what was mentioned in the video, but also the sour fruit acids that come out after them) and then reintroduce them so I could directly control how much acidity was in the coffee, while also reducing the need for as much bitterness (the main component used to balance out acidity) which comes out at the end (the "over-extracted" flavours). For really expensive brews<, I would do three extractions, separating those umami flavours, and then the fruit acids, and adding each in separately (during comps I would to it to taste by adding, then tasting and so on), but it's a finicky process to pull off, and two extractions is more repeatable and realistic. Side note, I am fairly certain you can also remove most of the caffeine from a brew this way, at least it would seem so from tasting, as caffeine has a very distinct taste and is extracted early in the process as well
Great video ! Setting 7 but which grinder? Is it the ZP6 Special? A shot of the grinds for grind size gauging might have been useful.
Using this recipes without a funky bean can give you a great pour over and a very clean espresso shot too…