In the last post, I showed pictures of my Bodum coffee grinder seemingly only grind beans to a medium-fine level. I borrowed a Baratza Encore to grind beans and to see if there were any differences. I also ground the same beans through my Bodum to compare.

Looking at the Baratza grounds and then comparing it to the Bodum grounds, I’m happy to note that they look similar enough to each other. I do have to say that the Baratza is definitely a much heavier grinder compared to the Bodum. As a precaution, I also ordered a replacement burr to replace the current burr. I’ve been using this grinder for 7 years now.

Left is the Baratza. Right is the Bodum

In my last coffee post, I mentioned how my current Bodum coffee grinder seemed to be having issues. Specifically, I thought the “fine” setting was not normal “espresso-fine consistency that I’m used to for use in my Aeropress.

To look exactly how different the coffee grounds actually are, I went and ground coffee at three different settings: coarse, medium, fine. Basically I had the dial turned all the way to the right (coarse), in the middle (medium) and to the left (fine). Then plated it out to see what they looked like.

Looking at the grounds, there’s a signifcant difference between the coarse and medium grounds. Surprisingly, there’s a difference also between the medium and fine. However, I think that the “fine” is actually more of a medium-fine grind. I’ve seen ground beans with much finer / smaller particles.

I currenlty suspect that the beans are partially causing this issue as I didn’t see such medium-fine grounds in the last batch of beans. I have a new delivery of beans that came yesterday. We’ll see tomorrow.

September’s Angels Cup comes from Queen City Coffee Roasters. The beans are a light roasted single origin from Huehuetenango, Guatemala.

Before I start with what I taste, I’m want to say that there is something wrong with my current Bodum grinder. When grinding these beans, the beans manage to stop the grinder from grinding resulting in a loud “clacking” noise due to the grinder clutch. The coffee grounds does not look like the normal expected espresso-like consistency for the particular setting. To be honest, it looks large enough for a pourover or a french press.

Making my latte, I taste light fruity flavors only. I’m both surprised at the lack of “coffee flavor” but also that the milk flavor is not present. Generally the lack of the earthy, nutty, coffee flavor usually means that the flavor of milk has overpowered. Perhaps thats the power of the light roast?

August’s Trade Coffee comes from Feast Coffee & Culture Company. The beans are from Ethiopia’s Sidama region from a Shantawene village. Opening the bag of beans, I initially smell a pleasant floral aroma with a hint fruitness. A second whiff of the bag, I also get this nutty/peanut butter aroma.

Making my latte, I’m fairly disappointed at the lack of flavor. I didn’t taste much of that normal coffee flavor even when I drop down to a 1:1 coffee:milk ratio. It has a very light fruity and floral flavors with some sweetness. Ultimately, the lack of the “coffee flavor” is really disppointing for me.