Training log #5 by Niels te Vaanhold - Training for Compulsory round

Training for compulsory

Every month I get a new bag of April coffee.

With this coffee, it is now time for some training. In November the competition will start with the compulsory round. For this, I think it is good to do some training.

So for me, the best way to start is to find out what brewing device I would use.,

Last two years, I used Kalita wave 185 with a 1:15 ratio. I found out this worked well, and I made it into the finals two times, but I also found out that my score was not high enough.

Time for a change

This year I want to score more points, so that means I have to train more and become better in the compulsory round. A lot of competitors are using an AeroPress for the compulsory round. Now there are a ton of different recipes for the AeroPress. Different temperatures, different grind settings, the standard way, or the inverted way. Making three single AeroPress coffees in 7 minutes is not the problem. Making this consistent and tasting better than the other competitors is the challenge.

Pull vs. Push

It sounds strange, but last week I was testing coffee machines with filter coffee, I used the same recipe, the same coffee, the same grind size. Machine 1 was pushing water through the coffee, while machine two was pulling water back through the coffee. With the same parameters, I had two completely different tasting cups of coffee. 

So if you start with the inverted way taking Patriks AeroPress recipe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI-HYuN8IRw

You would generally start by putting the plusher in the AeroPress. Using the full space of the AeroPress. After 1 minute you start pushing until 1.20 minute.

For the second AeroPress, I used the same recipe; only this time, I pushed the plunger deeper in the AeroPress up between numbers 2 and 3. This means you have less space in the AeroPress. At 1 minute, I started pulling the plunger back for 10 seconds. You will notice that air sucks back in again. After 10 seconds, I started pushing the AeroPress and finishing at 1.20 minute.

Taste results:

I found out that the 2 cups were tasting still a lot similar. But the cup where we pulled the plunger back had a much brighter acidity and more sweetness.