WAKE UP AND COFFEE
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@Jett129 they're all medium roast! That seems to be the zone that Madcap stays in most of the time, if not always. Some of their coffees are really crazy — I think the Ardi (like I said, now called Party for some reason) was the first really nice, fruity medium roast I'd ever had, and it blew my mind. A real fruit bomb, as they say. Kinda changed my perspective on coffee forever, as previously I'd been more of a fan of dark roast. Now it just upsets my stomach, haha.
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Ahh yeah, for sure. I feel like french press is def the best for dark roast, but you're right — it really packs a wallop with all those oils and stuff still in the coffee from the full immersion. Tasty but gnarly!
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Went to Madcap’s website and looked at some of their coffees,but they don’t specify the roast level for any of their coffees. I’ve been spoiled by Old City coffee as not only do they specify the roast level of every coffee,but they show you exactly how each bean looks. I’ve been disappointed from time to time by different roasters definition of what a “Dark” roast is. I found them to be fairly expensive relative to what I’m currently spending.I buy 5lbs at a time which usually kicks in some level of discount and free shipping. Their 5lb bags were a little bit cheaper. Are you in Michigan?
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Nope, I’m in Texas! We’ve got some good roasters down here, Tweed and Flat Track come most immediately to mind. I learned about Madcap when I was dating a girl in Chicago for a bit. Intelligentsia had some as their special bean of the moment (not sure if they even carry brands outside of their own at this point — this was like 2014).
But! I can help you re: the beans at Madcap if you’re interested in checking them out. I can pretty safely say that they’re all medium roast. It’s sorta their thing. Could always shoot em an email though if you were looking to see if they have any recos On the darker side,
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Thanks for getting back to me. Hopefully your in a part of Texas that has some of their legendary Que. I’m always looking for new roasters to try so maybe I’ll shoot these guys an email. For years I had my own personal roaster… A guy who I could call up and tell him what I wanted,and he knew how I liked it roasted,and he would roast it bag it and ship it. He was the best. Sadly he passed away,and his wife tried for a little while to continue,but eventually shut down the roastery.
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For sure! I found a good list of some roasters a few years back, but this one seems to have all of the old ones plus some new entries:
https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/best-indie-coffee-roasters-article
Some of the now classics (Stumptown, Blue Bottle, Intelligentsia), but a lot of much smaller ones. I’ve tried Ruby and Counter Culture, both of which were amazing. I wanna check out the Vietnamese roaster — sounds really cool!
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Ooh nice! I just Googled them and that looks like it's the same as Justcoffee.coop? Marc Maron has had them as a sponsor for years on his show, have always been meaning to check em out.
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I used to work in coffee for a living (barista at first and then did wholesale for a roaster as a barista trainer and then sales associate) and can confirm Madcap is a great way to go. I highly recommend Onyx Coffee based out of Arkansas. All their current offerings are great. I just picked up the "Southern Weather Blend" and it is on point. Great cup to wake up to. Blip in Kansas City has some good offerings right now as well and they have a cool motorcycle/coffee vibe going on. Glad to see some specialty coffee love on this thread!
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@AndrewH If you get a chance check out www.oldcitycoffee.com I find their site to be one of the most informative in terms of coffee descriptions and pictures showing the level of darkness the beans are roasted to etc.I found the other sites akin to Iron Heart trying to sell you jeans without showing you what they look like. One of the attractions of IH which extends to other aspects of people’s lives is the want for accurate information. Doesn’t matter if I’m going to plunk down $20 for a pound of coffee or 450 for a pair of jeans,I want to know upfront what I’m getting. While I’ve never been disappointed by IH, I’ve definitely felt suckered by some coffee roasters who could right real good copy. Not knocking anyone you recommended,just my OCD about coffee and denim.
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@Jett129 Couldn’t agree more with you. I’ve been lucky as I have had the opportunity to “peak behind the curtain” with a lot of roasters and see how they buy, roast and craft their coffees. That’s why I really like a place like Onyx as I know the attention to detail they put into everything and there are so many awesome places roasting coffee that way. Old City looks really cool and agree, there descriptions really highlight how they roast and how it tastes. I also am going to try that 1893 Blend—looks great! Thanks for this recommendation!!
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I forgot about Onyx! They were on that first list I mentioned, wish I could find it. Anyway, I remember ordering some and digging it. Gonna give em a revisit!
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Last May, our company had a networking event in Vancouver, and had a cool “gift shop” with a complimentary item made by a Canadian company.
I chose this YIELD brand glass French Press,
And honestly hadn’t really used it since I use my chemex if I want more than 1 cup. Well, I’m out of filters for the Chemex, so I’ve given the French press a few tries and finally got my measures where I like them.
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Getting the grounds-to-water ratio takes some experimentation, and then it depends on how coarsely you grind the beans. And then you have to figure out how long to brew.
Check out this James Hoffman French press technique on YouTube. I've been using it for a few months, it's good!
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Solid! Thanks Paul!
I feel like my Chemex and Aeropress recipes are so dialed in, I have been scared of the French press.
I also need to get new batteries for my scale
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