How To Brew Better Dark Roasts
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- Опубліковано 11 тра 2024
- I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this one!
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Love how James needs to put more time into defending the concept of drinking dark roasts than drinking donuts in coffee.
Does James think we are coffee snobs? James thinks we're coffee snobs who laugh at dark roasts doesn't he !?
I mean I am. But I'm also an addict so I'll drink anything.
XD XD XD
@@ondank I think anyone who looks into improving their coffee skills has looked down on a dark roast, at least once in their life. Also, the coffee James used would seem light to the average person, buying coffee from the supermarket
@@ondank if taste is subjective and so many "peasants" prefer the taste of dark roast, why would it be fine to look down on dark roast? Just because nerds discovered the complexity of various coffee beans doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the straightforwardness of dark roasts.
@@slothc it's entirely a joke mate. I love dark roast. I love light roast.
Loosen up.
Got into coffee because of James and I am constantly amazed he never runs out of coffee knowledge to share!
Maybe read his books then ;)
Ifkr
Same, I was drinking nescafe everyday until the UA-cam algorithm led me here.
He just invents new shït to wow you with.
Welcome! 🎉
Hi James - I'm a chemist and I do a lot of work on extraction and solubility. If I were to hypothesise, the reason this works is because you will first extract more of the low molecular weight compounds: the carboxylic acids, esters which give the bright, fruity and sweet flavours, which are "easier" to extract, because they are smaller. With more heat you will extract more of these initially. With increasing time, you will be extracting more of the bitter, high molecular weight compounds formed, and reducing the temperature here means you will slow the extraction of the more undesirable compounds.
This is extremely fascinating. Thank you
this lines up with a lot of the research going over tea, mainly originating from china where the culture of tea is bigger. teas are more finicky with temperature because certain compounds are extracted faster at higher temps so the game is to get the temperature and steep time right to avoid too much bitterness
James: "You really wanna be using it within 2-3 weeks."
Me: *cries with my 3-month old dark roast beans*
I've still got a bag from March I don't want to throw away.. God help me
In another video James has started supporting freezing beans, or at least has stopped condemning the practice. Freezing extends the shelf life dramatically. (The video where he talk about liquid nitrogen and super-cooling beans.)
I just bought a 2.5 lbs bag of French Roast from Costco yesterday and I live alone... 😭
@Account number 7 lol Ummm, what? 😆
@@ropro9817 hemm I brought a 1kg bag from Lidl and threw it in the bin ... After tasting it I must add
These intros are seriously UA-cam hall of fame.
I really appreciate what James done for coffee. His experiment, his eagerness, his explanation is superb, even for the type of coffee he personally said does not prefer (this time, about darker roasted coffee).
I salute you James! Hope this video really broadens the view of many people around the world.
He's also kind to people who put cream and sugar in their coffee, which is really appreciated in stark contrast to a lot of coffee snobs who have a superiority complex over people who add stuff to their drinks.
@@danielleanderson6371 Yeah and I believe they have a term for it. They call it "tainting" lmao
@@gino7460 It definitely does mask the flavor of the coffee, in the same sense that adding garlic butter to a steak masks the taste of beef. What those people miss is that the mask also tastes good and pairs well with the thing it's masking, so it's more of a lateral shift in flavor where you can argue for either side. And just like steaks, I wouldn't buy a super expensive specialty coffee just to make pumpkin spice lattes. Specialty coffee would definitely taste better than cheaper coffee in that context, but if I'm buying something expensive it's because I want to taste that expensive thing. Mid-grade coffee, on the other hand, is great for making milk drinks and other fun stuff because you aren't paying for that extra complexity you're covering up.
No kidding. I've learned alot about what to look for when I'm trying to make myself a cup of joe. Everyone knows Folgers is bad, but to know WHY, and how to do it better, is why I keep coming back to James. That being said, his palette is much more finely tuned than mine. I did his Aeropress method, along with one of the most aggressive methods, and could barely taste the difference.
@@danielleanderson6371 Isn't that just normal behaviour, to accept and respect other peoples preferences and taste in foods and drinks? Imo that should always be the way to go anyway. I can't take people who are telling me how i should eat or drink my food/drinks really serious.
I think what you call darker roast in the video is more like a medium roast for common supermarket beans. The ones labelled ‘french style’ or ‘Italian style’ are scarily shiny black beans. Those are expected to be served with dairy. Really appreciate the video, we consume a lot of coffee and a lot of the time we just have to buy from supermarket which tends to be the darker roast. I notice the boiling water bloom, it is exactly like when I bloom with just boiled water! I’ll definitely try 80C brew with my v60!
I am often impressed by the depth of James' knowledge and how he consistently articulates the concepts in an interesting and compelling manor without sounding pompous.
Thanks for sending some love to those of us that prefer the dark side! I'm one of those that *hates* acidic coffee. Less about the flavour and more because it feels very unpleasant in my stomach. The roasty, toasty flavours of dark coffee are very warm and comforting too.
Never really thought why I prefer darker roasts until this comment. I can remember light/blonde roasts giving me a very unpleasant and uncomfortable stomach feeling afterwards too
@@TheAkANIMAL907 yes! I had a similar moment some years back. I find that light roasts of the type heavily consumed here in Finland give me a painful stomach, and far more of the coffee induced bathroom visits than dark roasts do. I'm originally from Australia so I'm more accustomed to darker roasts and espresso drinks, so the ultra light roast filter coffee here was a real shock to my system.
@@TheAkANIMAL907 could be due to the higher caffeine content in lighter roasts
As far as technique goes, when dialing in my V60 brews I found that I had to go to a very coarse grind to get a good result. I must test out the ratio and temperature tweaks :) I still usually prefer a splash of milk/oat milk but thats mostly because I enjoy the thicker mouthfeel it gives.
Ironically, I’m the opposite. I love dark roast for the flavor rather than the difference in acidity with lighter roasts. But I definitely agree that our pour dark roast community are the wallflowers of the coffee-nerddom dance. I’m glad to see us get some attention, too.
I love that you’re super into specially coffee but you want to help people enjoy what they like. You don’t try to convince people that your preferences are the correct way to brew coffee.
Exactly. He’s not a typical coffee snob, which is what we love about him.
he doesn’t try to, but he does
@@mattzechman4408 I find most "snobs" in any walk of life are "snobby" to hide a lack of true expertise. They know only one way to make - in this instance a great cup of coffee, and will not brook that they don't know something that someone they believe they should know more than, knows. So they use snobbishness to cover their insecurity. James on the other had is a true expert, it comes across in every video that he genuinely understands and has a great desire to improve his understanding. He doesn't need to hide anything, but I bet if you asked him, when he was learning in his earlier years, he had a snobbish reaction to certain subjects.
Me too🥰🥰
I endlessly appreciate your love of coffee James and seemingly unending content you generate. Your methodical approach to all things coffee is amazing and thanks for sharing your wisdom with the interwebs!
James, your video inspired me to experiment with two dark roast today. First, I do not care at all for acidity or bitterness. At 70, I've had too much bad coffee in my life to want more. So I am one of those you describe as using sweetener (in my case, honey,) to mask bitterness. So trying out your formula, 35 grams of coarser ground coffee for 500 ml of water, doing a 100 degree C bloom, followed by 80 degrees C for the remainder, I used a blend this morning. Peet's Major Dickason was indeed much less bitter and completely drinkable without anything added. But adding a little less than a teaspoon of honey made it superb for me. This afternoon, I repeated the experiment with a single-source Columbian coffee which had been problematic for me before with its higher rates of acidity. The coarser grind, 100 degree/80 degree C brewing did tame some of the acidity as well as the bitterness. For me, it was drinkable without anything but I didn't love it. Again, a bit less than a teaspoon of honey made it much more palatable for my tastes. The only two downsides for me are juggling the temperatures of the water and the fact that you end up with a much cooler cup of coffee. Even served in a pre-warmed Yeti cup, it seems (my perception is?) that the cup cools down from 80 degrees C much faster.
Will I continue? I do like the the Major Dickason and will probably do it this way occasionally. I think the acidity of the Columbian doomed it from the beginning. That said, it is much better done in this fashion for me.
I despise sweeteners as a principle, but I do admit that a lot of the time my coffee is missing a "front" taste which a dash of sweet could rectify
This is so interesting Melvin! Thank you!
I've found that the Ember mug is an essential for me when drinking brewed coffee that was brewed at a lower temperature. Since it keeps the drink warm with a heating element (rather than just insulation), I can enjoy the drink at the optimal temperature over a leisurely amount of time.
Yes, the Ember mug seems like possibly the silliest thing ever. An expensive mug with bluetooth and an app. But honestly it's possibly one of the best things I've ever bought. Bought one (after James' video), lent it to my (rather skeptical) wife the next day, next morning, we had two.
You might just convince me to go try another dark roast with this video...
Nice seeing you here, Morgan!
Well hello, Ms. SpillsCoffee :)
Wait a minute morgan, you use light roast in milk based drinks? I have never tried that...damn
@@rajrishiparmar1362 You should try!
collab when
I am one of those people who loves a really dark and oily dark roast everyday. I like the roasty a bitter notes, light roasts tend to be too acidic for my palette. I also enjoy the texture and body of dark more.
That sourness and acidity just gives me heartburn and I can't deal with it
@Mike Edwards i 100% agree can’t do the acidity, but love me a good medium to dark roast!
Yup. Acid is good for de-rusting bolts. Not for drinking.
I was working for Starbucks when they launched "blonde roast". I was horrified, and even more so when I tried it. IMO nothing beats a good French pressed dark roast.
@Mike Edwards - Hi, my name is John and I am a Dark Roast Lover.
I really like dark roasts for a change and to get that special rich, chocolatey, syrupy combination of flavours and body that seems to come only with something like a dark roasted quality Brazilian bean.
But one additional technique for getting the best from dark roasts that I feel you missed mentioning here is to pour gently. After the bloom pour while starting each additional pour I use the bowl of a long handled spoon held under the kettle spout, and close to the coffee surface, to moderate the agitation of the grounds. I remove the spoon after there's enough hot water on the grounds bed. I also pour from closer to the water surface then I do for light/medium roasts.
By doing this I avoid a lot of bitterness and a kind of nasty stridency or harshness I'd get otherwise.
Thank you for all the great tips and research you do, James!
Dark roast coffee taste like charcoal
I have a feeling you're talking about over-roasted coffee, not a proper dark roast from a quality company. But tastes vary, drink what you like.
I love both light and dark roasts, but to me a really excellent dark roast espresso is almost like a different drink entirely to a light roast espresso, the flavours are just so different.
yes this is my experience as well.
I never considered myself as a nerd. Then I discoverd James Hoffmann's UA-cam-Channel... well, here we are.
James: My Ultimate AeroPress recipe is so simple a child can do it.
Also James: Today we'll be brewing a V60 with water at 2 different temperatures.
Set some boiled water aside in a jug before you bloom. Then bloom with water from the kettle, and brew with water from the jug. The water in the jug should be cooler by the time it gets to the coffee, because it's been poured twice instead of once.
Tasting V60 paper was more hardcore
Thank you for finally covering dark roasts! Please continue to include dark roasts in your reviews and guides!
"because i want everyone to enjoy coffee a little bit more" thank you James ^_^ how sweet of you
"the coffee we are using today is dark" shows a pleasant medium, medium-dark roast 🤣
The camera exposure is pretty high
"real" dark roasts vs supermarket/starbucks dark lol
Thought the same thing... it's really not that dark xD
light/medium/dark are relative terms and In the world of specialty, it is focused on the development of the bean between first and second crack. James looks like he's using a full city roast (just before second crack) thus a dark roast. many will claim medium roasts that are beyond second crack like grocery store coffee or SB but in a specialty vacuum, this has gone too far and is likely from a lower grade of coffee.
Medium dark is pretty dark in specialty coffee though.
Dark roasts are criminally underrated. I've followed the exact trajectory that James described, I began my coffee journey with darker roasts since I wasn't used to the acidity. Today my daily is always a medium/light, but I always have a dark roast packet in my kitchen. I'll make a cup once in a while and the palette change ALWAYS blows my mind. Just get a good dark roast obviously lol
They are only underrated in third wave circles.
Wow, this totally works! Following these instructions, I was able to brew some French Roast which was much smoother and less bitter. Thanks, James!
Your production quality has just gone through the roof in the last 12 months. So glad to have been along for the ride for all of this
James' all black sweater is just too suiting to today's video
@@svgPhoenix my first thoughts haha
"I want everyone
to enjoy coffee
a little bit more."
Not a haiku but still
Add "drinking" to the second line and we're all the way there :)
Is damn close:
I want every (e-ver-y)
One to enjoy coffee a
Little bit more...... (Just need one more syllable)
I want everyone
To enjoy coffee a bit
More than they do now
Really looking forward to trying this technique out. The coffee shop a mile from my house roasts their own beans, but they definitely tend towards the lighter side and I can detect that acidity. I've gotten used to it, but I still love the smell and mouthfeel of some of the darker roasts I get from another shop in town. Thank you for this!
I've been a fan of darker roasts for a long time, and it's great to see James talking about them here! And so much yes to lower brew temps for darker roasts!
Really appreciate this, thank you! I'm a medium/dark roast fiend, because I prefer deeper coffee flavors to acidity, but I often feel snobbed-out (is that a word? It's a word now) for it. Thanks for giving us plebes some support. :)
Yep. I've been sneered at mockingly by more than one coffee snob/hipster for saying that I prefer darker roasts. "Might as well just drink instant", apparently...
@@Trizza84 Same, which is really not fun.
@@Trizza84 I can't stomach dark roasts (or at least very dark roasts, when they start feeling ashy) but I can definitely understand why some people like them. Snobbery sucks.
@@Trizza84 retort with "if you like your coffee so bright and dainty you might as well drink tea" lmao
I'm fine with whatever people's preferences are, but biting back at snobbery feels good
We are having a glimpse on the mid range espresso machine review in the background. I can't wait!
1000$ Espresso machine range is next
Just tried it at 80C and the difference is night and day. I enjoy decaf in the afternoon but find the beans fit the same profile as these darker roasts and seem to be very porous too. The change in the way the coffee blooms at 80C is so different.
Very grateful for learning about this. I had previously always held the belief that water temp for pour over was just not something to fiddle with and routinely used water that had just come off the boil.
This channel definitely taught me how to make coffee "the right way" and as a result I found out that even the coffee I regularly drank as ready ground and made by a moccamaster, didn't necessarily ask for sugar and milk or cream when it was ground and brewed right. I still use them because that's how I like it, but as they say, when you get the base right, it's easier to build on top of that and get even greater results.
Thanks for making this, people snob over this saying dark roasts are like a well-done steak. There are some wonderful earthy chocolaty notes in something like a nice Sumatra.
just don't get starbucks Sumatra
@@landenew just don't get Starbucks anything. 🤢
Actually that's not quite true, astonishingly they brew quite reasonable tea these days. (well, reasonable for a teabag tea in a motorway service station.)
I love dark roasts, and I have no patience with people who claim that they have superior tastes and that everyone should like the same things. One of James' big attractions is that he's clear that his preferences are just his preferences, and that everyone should experiment and find what they like.
It feels like the specialty coffee community as a whole has adopted a sort of "Dark roasts are for plebs and if you like them, you should feel bad" mentality. I hope we see a shift to something more like "Light roasts and dark roasts are just different - neither is inherently better or worse."
Beautifully said!
I'd agree but I think a lot of that has come from that the large portion of mass produced darker roasts are, terrible. So the end result of saying "ALL dark roasts are bad" wherein it's more just that mass produced coffee is kinda crap. Specialty dark roasts are excellent too!
@@mwiz100 Counter Culture's dark roast (Gradient) is pretty good. Classic flavors you would expect while maintaining slight hints of fruit-like acidity.
It's just fashion, these things are highly cyclical! I guarantee you now, in 25 years time, most people will think light roasts are for plebs and people will be drinking such bitter brews, as dark as possible as the in thing, with flat white quantities of milk to blend it all together. I still remember when all the foodies used to scoff at the idea of eating rare steak, laughing at the "plebs" who can't keep a well done steak moist, so they have to cheat. Then the French fashion took over, and it reversed. Except now in France, the real steak loving foodies are cooking their steaks for as much as 50 hours plus to get the juiciest, most well done properly rendered steak. Even when you think a particular stance is so endemic to the subject - say politics. How could a right wing believer think capitalism is a problem, or a left wing not believe in social health care.... 40 years ago, both these stances were reversed. It's all just fashion.
@@PippetWhippet That makes a lot of sense. I only been a "coffee enthusiast" for about 10 years, so I didn't really see the whole "second wave" thing that people talk about.
Seen so many useful videos from JH and wondered how I missed this. Never liked dark roast till I tried this 100C bloom-85C pour over and was shocked at how much more enjoyable the cup was. Immediately the aromas was clearer, bitterness reduced significantly, unmasking the sweet notes. What a treat! Thanks James!
Let's take a moment to appreciate how good James looks in the black sweater in that black, white and silver background
It's like every new video is exactly what I want to know. Christmas comes every week
I wanted the background music for this to be Leonard Cohen's "You Want It Darker"
We'll kill the flame
@@skeetsmcgrew3282 tu tu du du
I thoroughly enjoy the product reviews, technique tutorials, and even the weird & wacky vid clips that pop up occasionally. My favourites are ones like this and the Yemenia episode which help me learn more about the coffee we are brewing. Many thanks!
What a great way to start my Saturday; preparing my coffee while listening to James' dulcet tones
Me, drinking Nescafé gold using water straight from the tap:
Hmm, yes, indeed
Lidl Barista Origins here, instant goodness. A person needs to broaden his or her horizons. How else does a person know how much pain is still possible to live through?
I don’t know how you can watch his videos and not get the basic tools to brew real coffee! I can’t even bring myself to drink pre found coffee these days.
Me drinking Douwe Egberts pre-ground coffee that’s actually half milk: hmmm yes I definitely agree
@@michaelkartman3543 I actually have a good coffee shop around the corner that is supplied by Square Mile. I have been using aeropress for ages but there are mornings when I am too lazy. Also, instant coffee makes you appreciate good stuff more... well, it makes me appreciate it anyway.
@@michaelkartman3543 You should watch James's video about what they don't tell about about learning to taste.. He talks about how limiting yourself to ONLY top quality is counter productive and just a bad thing to do
Being at high elevation, I've shifted more to medium and dark roasts since the lower boiling point here makes light roasts very difficult to extract unless you're brewing with pressure.
Amazing James! I remember asking about this exact topic a while ago on one of your videos, and am happy to see you address it! Great video as always, now off to try some darker roast experiments!
Its very nice seeing some love for dark roasts. I hate the sour flavor that tends to come with specialty light roast coffee. I like the bitterness of dark roasts and I usually put a small amount of cream in just for texture. I tried this method and I think it came out better. But I think next time I have some time on my hands I'll have to do a side by side comparison of my usual method and this one.
I suspect from the 14 other replies here that we are not alone.
Did you compare both methods?
Perfect timing! I mostly drink decaf, as I don't like the feeling I get from too much caffeine, and I have found that it's not nearly as easy to get good light roasted decaf as it is to find good dark roast decaf. So recently I've been trying to get the best out of the dark roasted beans that I've been buying, and I couldn't be happier to see this video!
I have tried to adapt the famous JH Aeropress technique to a darker roast, and have had some success doing pretty much all the things you mentioned in this video. I don't have a temperature controlled kettle, so I have been boiling the water then pouring it into a pyrex jug, and taking the temperature with a digital cooking thermometer. Usually the temperature is around 85c in the jug straight away which seems to be about right. Grinding a LOT coarser, almost to the lower limit of my grinder, and steeping for less time helped a great deal with taking out the bitterness.
With regards to decaf; I am very much looking forward to the, hopefully still planned, video on the subject in the future. There are a lot of conflicting opinions on the various methods of decaffeination, and I would love to see someone dive into the subject with a more comparative view.
I literally converted my wife to being a coffee drinker because of little tips and tricks from videos like this. I have some fresh darker roast I wasn't excited to try but this is going to make me to load it up in my grinder once I'm home
Thank you so much for all your great videos and incredible content. You’ve given me a passion for coffee, a better tasting cup and lots of content to enjoy in the early mornings when the kids wake me early and I can’t sleep again :)
This is excellent, since I'm currently in Japan and they love their dark roast filter coffee. I've been struggling to achieve a good brew like the traditional cafes do over here, and James' tips may just be what I need to crack the code on this one.
Same! I’ve never liked acidic coffee which was all the cafes over seemed to serve. When I moved to Japan I fell in love with the dark roast filter coffee the serve at fancy cafes but still was unable to replicate it at home
This actually shines a light on an interesting phenomena I've been noticing about the bloom and specifically agitation in the bloom. I feel that this 45 second part of coffee brewing in a pour over has much more impact on the flavour profile than the remaining 2 minutes or so.
I feel there's definitely some interesting science lurking in this phase. Especially that instant 100c water hits the coffee, and the swirl is made. There's some complex extraction taking place in this moment that has a drastic affect on the end result. In doing my own experimentation I've noticed that even milliseconds in swirl time with 100c water can make a big difference the final brew. An even bigger difference than grind size with all other variables kept the same. There's a thing happening here that no one has actually scienced yet.
I have a feeling this could very well be a placebo effect, but I hope James looks into it regardless.
My guy is getting too comfy with the regular uploads.
Well we're not complaining
This is exactly what I needed as I've just bought a dark roast bag of beans, thank you James.
James,
This video couldn't come more timely for me! I was getting a little bit frustrated with tuning my technique for darker roasts that I seem to enjoy as much as the light ones. You have just taken away all the guesswork and equipped me with the sound guidelines to try out tomorrow morning. Thank you, good sir, for that! And for all that you do here!
The videography is absolutely amazing! 😍
I'm a light roast drinker but I care about my dark roast friends. Thank you James for helping me contribute slightly less to their suffering when they're visiting.
I was, in fact, having problems with a medium to dark coffee that I bought these days and I thought it was producing to much fines. I watched your video and realize i was thinking in the right direction and it made me feel great. So thank you for that James.
I have been using this technique for more than 2 and a half years and it really affected my end results. Being able to extract more in the bloom really makes the difference. Was a bit surprised by you making a video about it 6 months ago. Nice.
Really helpful for us decaficionados, as decaf tends to 'appear' more darkly roasted (which surely means it is). It certainly tends towards tasting that way so I'm excited to mod my filter brewing approach.
a roaster told me that decaf coffee looks a lot darker even before the roasting, just something to do with the decaf process itself. So when they say it just appears more darkly roasted but actually isn't, they mean it
TL;DR: James, you have done it again. I really appreciate this video, you've helped me improve the quality of my coffee experience.
Longer story for those who want to follow my experience:
My coffee journey started many years ago and I preferred darker roasts. As I began enjoying exploring different coffees from different locations and different methods of brewing, I found myself appreciating lighter roasts coffee much more. This was accentuated by a particular trend in some coffee shops that seem to roast their beans frankly too dark (while still selling at a premium price) roasting the region out of the coffee. Almost as a personal statement, I've intentionally stayed away from darker roasts since.
I've been roasting my own beans at home for quite a while too. This started from an thrift store air popper, moving to some Frankensteined abomination of a convection oven and a flatbed popcorn popper, to now using a much more efficient yet affordable drum roaster...my roasting habits reflected my flavor interests and definitely grew more on the light end of the spectrum.
Literally 3 weeks ago I began trying to roast more dark to explore my "roots". I've tried 3 different kinds of coffee and kept my brew process consistent with the lighter roast profiles and while not bad, I thought: "why would I do this over a lighter roast"? I found myself putting creamer back in my coffee (though I did make some homemade Irish Cream and that didn't disappoint). I had just a little bit left (enough for 3 cups) as I watched this yesterday and followed the process (all of it) and that 'meh' coffee came to life (my wife agreed).
I went out and roasted a Costa Rican coffee (one of my favorites) and took it a good bit darker than usual. I sit here typing this drinking it (I should have let it rest longer, but I'm weak and couldn't wait), again following the process as you've indicated - dang if it isn't a terrific cup of coffee.
Again, I thank you!
James, I recently found your channel and have been enjoying it immensely. I'm one of those dark roast devotees thanks to meeting Alfred Peet in his original shop in 1969. I've been drinking Peets dark roast coffees for more than 50 years now and as an old timer, I haven't changed much but I have evolved a bit and now use a Hario scale, Fellow EKG, and Ode Grinder.
Your ideas for brewing dark roasts proved to be very helpful. I just got a V60 Switch, V60 filters and have been using 96 degrees for a bloom (to hang my nose over), then refill the kettle with cold water to bring it down to 90 degrees for the slurry. I use 18 grams of grounds with 220 grams water. I pour 40 grams for the bloom, wait 45 seconds, then add 180 grams for the slurry and stir/swirl the mix. I let it sit for 2:00 minutes including the bloom and then break the crust with a spoon, and at 2:15 flip the switch and swirl it as it drains in about 1:15. This results in 180 grams (6 oz.) of coffee. It’s sweeter now, a more mellow but still full bodied and satisfying. Now I'm going to start toying with the grind size, dialing the Ode down from 3 to a little finer and see what happens. Who knows maybe I’ll even try a lighter roast.
Thrilled to see a dark roast video, James! 😘 I love dark roasts for my ice coffee with half & half, been the only roast able to provide enough flavor. I do a single portion pour over and probably under brew but I'm okay with that to avoid bitter flavors.
It's interesting how some coffees can give a great cup at various roast levels, while others really need to be either lighter or darker to give the best taste.
There's just nothing quite as relaxing as a nice cup of coffee and a James Hoffmann video on a sunny Saturday morning
Indeed. Or a Sunday morning in my case. I'm on my second cup!
@@ishmael4489 Nice! Enjoy!
Have been obsessing on a great cup of coffee to enjoy in my mornings and by doing so, found this channel.
I took this approach with my dark roasted coffee and truly found the formula of a boil rest to the cooler pour really made a difference.
Thank you for your content.
I look forward to furthering my knowledge of a great cup of coffee due to this channel and your clear and helpful approach.
Cheers!
The cinematography of these videos keeps getting better and better. Thanks James!
Its midnight right now where I am, but James, you've just convinced me to brew a cuppa - 12:46. can't tell if it was a better brew or its just the caffeine kick at this ungodly hour.
Love the videos.... I come from a beer brewing background and find it interesting how many parallels there are between coffee and beer brewing. I was interested to note your technique here of using a high temp (i.e. boiling) for your bloom (in mashing that would be the strike water) and the lower temp for the main brew phase. From a beer brewing perspective the effect of a higher strike temperature is that you would require lower temperature (or volume) additions to hit the desired mash temperature. It therefore struck me that perhaps the difference you perceive from using high temp bloom is that the overall brew temperature is slightly higher given that the addition is the same volume and temperature for both. Just a thought.
Thanks for the quality videos as always. Funny enough my local grocery store had a massive coffee sale a few weeks back and so I spent alot of time reading and selecting a few, and the dark roasts I just couldn't brew well enough, thought I would just have to do mad batches of cold brew or something to enjoy all I got until this video! Thank you so much!
Thanks James, I’m a dark roast fan and it was very kind of you, a light roast drinker, to take the time to make this video for us dark roast people.
"A friendly cup of coffee" such a nice way of say "It's not my favorite".
This video was uploaded after my morning brew so I'll have to try this next time I guess!
James dipping his toes into the Dark side, love it.
Come… come to the Dark side. We have cookies.
The first time I really focused on getting a good cup. Most of the time I was just taking too much coffee grind or was letting it sit for too long (French press). Now is the first time I try to understand the properties of making coffee. For that I want to thank you, you probably are my favourite Hoffmann ;) I'm glad I found your channel, so I can learn more about the art of coffee brewing
James, thank you so much for all your videos. I've tried your techniques several times. In general, they work very well for all kinds of coffees. The trick is to find a way to have hot waters at 2 different temperatures.
I heat up a little more water than I need so the temp of the water doesn't drop very much as I take some of the brew-temp water to heat it up to boil either in the microwave or in another small pot for blooming. I tried this on some commercially pre-grounded dark roast coffee, it almost eliminated the bitterness. On freshly grounded dark or medium roasts, the hotter bloom does help to bring out more aromas and flavours. I must confess, I used to drink "over-roasted" or French roast (I didn't even add milk). I've switched to drinking Medium to Medium-Dark roasts since. It was truly a revelation to me, there are so many more nuances and notes to enjoy.
A video on dark roasts! In the same year as Aeropress! Thank you!
I'm a Vietnamese native. In my country, we have a huge coffee culture, and the most common coffee beans are dark roast Robusta. Although specialty coffee is becoming much more popular, the regular way to brew it is a type of immersion drip, with hot boiling water and coffee beans grind as fine as possible. However, the coffee roasting process is a bit different - there are many addicitives put into the coffee, including butter, fish sauce and even egg sometime. The resulting cup is rich, heavy body and has an earthly taste, and we often drink it with a lot of condensed milk. Of course, there are tons of variants, but that result is usual.
I'm experimenting with dark roast Robusta on Aeropress, using Fellow Prismo attachment and additional paper filter to get rid of the oil. Thank you for making these videos, it's very informative.
The paper filter will help your cholesterol levels as well!
Really like the information and explanations are meticulous, understanding other coffee drinkers preference and make them realize things they don't know about their drink so that the experience of drinking coffee jumps to another level
Just wanted to say I appreciate you James. I've had a few dark roasts that I've used the JHV60 technique on and they've seemed to either be terribly over extracted or boring tinted water. The temp drop from 100C to 80C after the first bloom was a perfect tweak (literally taking a sip of it as I type this). Thanks again.
I see James Hoffmann, I click.
A truly cultured individual.
James: Talking about dark roasts.
Me: Where's the aeropress?
My 4 year old has been a fan of James Hoffmann (along with me and my wife) for over a year. These videos (and the resulting amazing coffee at home) helped get us through the worst of 2020.
He would love it if you made a video about “milk steamers,”/steamed milk.
I have had many a “great day” as a result of this channel. Thank you!
My mom used to do pour over coffee on our boat with a melita pour over filter over a thermos, lots of people with fancy automatic coffee machines would frown upon that style of coffee as it was so old fashioned. Right now, i know why i loved her coffee so much... and she was basically pouring as a 2021 hipster 25 year ago. The roasts were quite dark, but this is something common in the Netherlands where we would drink fairly strong coffee. I personally love a bit of bitterness in the cup, and if it’s well balanced it goes a long way. Not with milk or sugar though.. Thanks for also including darker roasts in your videos :)
I already bought fresh coffe which I hate because is too dark for my taste, now I’m saved, because of you Mister Hoffmann
I usually prefer darker roasts when im out getting a coffe with friends or by myself but whenever i tried to do it at home it wasnt quite right. Did what was said in the video and had a little celebration. Thank you James, youre absolutely awesome
I'm convinced. What an incredible difference it makes using two different temperatures between the initial bloom and main pour. More complexity, great body and mouthfeel, less bitterness.... Great technique!
This video's a game changer. I've been struggling for so long to get good coffee out of dark roasts - and you've fixed it!
Can we please get a video for medium-dark espresso too? Many of us live in countries where light roast is a myth.
U missed out the third group who just want to learn more about coffee!
Thanks for teaching me so much! 🤎
Love the idea of blooming with higher temperatures James! Going to share this with my team at our cafe. Thanks for another great video!
I actually tried brewing a dark roast after this video. The result is perfect. Love you, James!
I'm really looking forward to trying this technique when I get home on Monday. I have always preferred darker roasts because I'm not big on acidity in my coffee. I'm interested in seeing a separate walk through on lighter roasts, and perhaps how a dark roast drinker may bridge over to the lighter side, given what they look for in a cup of coffee. I know you mentioned most of your brewing videos are light-roast centric (which I noticed, and why I was particularly excited for this video!) But if you are continuing to break down roast specific methods, I'm excited to see if there are brewing tips for lighter roasts that may convert me!
I’m the opposite I really like that acidity like if I was drinking a lemonade and so the dark bitter notes are weird for me
I recommend you to cold brew your medium roast. Legend says you can also warm it up for a hot cup. Acidity is at the lowest with cold brewing
This is such phenomenal content. Even though I’m never going to have this level of control (or time) this STILL gives me, as a very casual coffee lover something to think about and implement as I try to perfect my brewing techniques. Thanks you James for doing work that is both accessible and aspirational all at once.
I'm a fan of dark roast coffee. Been trying with your tips and advices, and it helps bringing more complexity. Please share more of this technique. Thanks.
I've been looking forward to this video for a long time! There's a bias in specialty coffee against dark roasts and I think there shouldn't be. Thanks for sharing and for breaking those walls down!
It’s always a good day when James posts a video!
Mr. Hoffmann! It's evening here and I wouldn't normally drink coffee at this time, but now, after this video, I HAVE TO! For coffee, for science!
Update: it's 10:40 PM, aaaannnd I think we really have something here! ☕🤓🙌🏻
Same! 9:12pm MUST try!!! It’s SO much better
I tried this brewing suggestion this morning. Wow! What a difference. It's such a relief to learn that I'm roasting the beans just fine. Just a little tweak in the brewing made all the difference.
Perfect timing James.
I've been struggling of late to get the dark roast right. I settled on a longer brewing time and it seems to work well.
Finally, you've come over to the dark side... even if just for a moment.
As someone who really only drinks dark coffee for the flavors, and can't quite get used to the higher acidity of lighter roasts, I really appreciate this video. I have sort of built my methods for different brewing techniques off your videos, so I now have some new things to try. I already brew a little more coarse and at around 190F, but I need to try the 70g/1L since I have been doing 60g. Also the hotter bloom is intriguing to me as well. Thank you, James, as always.
With so many dark roasts out there, this was a truly welcome video. Thanks!
I was just toying around with a coarser grind setting for the dark roast I received as a gift this week (it said light/medium on the packaging but appeared to be dark). I will definitely lower the brew temperature now too, thank you James, this video arrived just in time!