First part of my review for Home Roast Exchange. I got the beans yesterday. Phil sent me a batch of Colombian and a batch of Ethiopian roasted with his Royal#5 roaster (very cool roaster by the way!)

The beans were roasted a few days ago. I opened both but only brew the Ethiopian coffee beans this morning because it’s my favourite! The beans looked evenly roasted. I can smell the blueberry bomb everyone has talked about right after I open the package.

I am still a newbie so I’m guessing the roast is about FC level or City+. I ground 17g of the beans up with my SuperJolly grinder and brewed with my Quickmill Anita machine. I got 34g shot in 23 seconds. A bit too fast but not bad for the first try. And as expected, blueberry bombs again!

I recently roasted Ethiopia Honey Yirg with a popcorn popper that also had the blueberry bomb. But the blueberry note from mine and Phil’s Ethiopia beans are different. Phil’s beans also have very strong floral notes that compliments the blueberry note very well.

I usually finish my coffee pretty fast but I tried to slow myself down and pay attention to how the taste changes whilst the coffee cools down. Right after the brew, the blueberry and floral notes were very standout but I felt it’s kind of flat and has some bitterness finish (This could be a problem with my setup or my palate because I always feel the bitterness finish in all my espresso shots).

Once the coffee cooled down, it becomes juicier and more complex. It feels creamier and less bitter as well. I tried the Ethiopian today with aeropress and the bitterness was not there. It must be something wrong with my espresso machine setup that gave the bitter finish.

I still noticed the blueberry note with smooth feeling in the aeropress brew.

Colombian beans: From the bean appearance, I believe they are roasted to FC+ (I spot some oil on the beans). Very even roast again with Royal#5. I’m not a big fan of medium dark roast beans but I have them from time to time to change things up. The coffee was smooth and full bodied. I tasted very dark chocolate and a bit of nutty flavour from it. A very good switch from my usual fruit forward coffee.