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Starting Points

 

My first reference frame for outstanding coffee is a great roast from Coffee Labs Roasters in Tarrytown called Colombian Federico Ceballos - Lactic Fermentation Process. Made at home after fresh grinding, in aeropress, cafe americano style. Black, no sugar as always. The flavor is amazing.  Best coffee I remember ever having. (Granted, I don't do this for a living so my experience is limited.) I don't know exactly what I'm tasting, but I love it. The label describes it as milk chocolate, plum, lime. I kinda get some chocolate and something citrusy, something fruity maybe, and more. But I can only identify those specifics when prompted by the description. 

In general the coffee I make with aeropress is going to be better than what I get at a coffee shop from the espresso machine if I start with a good bean. I assume most coffee shops are using a general purpose dark roasted blend to cover all the myriad bar requests - espresso, americano, macciato, latte, iced, hot, flavored, etc. Like a house wine, if you will. When I make my own, I'm looking specifically for something that makes an exceptional "americano." Typically a light or medium roast, single origin-I usually prefer to experience the characteristics of the individual regions.

 

My second reference point is the americano I drink at Peekskill Coffee House. They were one of the few places where I could sit inside and drink coffee through the winter with the COVID-19 precautions everywhere, and I love the place and the people who work there. Their americano is a good all-around coffee and I enjoy it on a regular basis. It doesn't have the complexity or intensity of Federico Ceballos but it's a nice balance of bitterness (low), acidity (moderate) and other flavors and subtle aromas I can't quite identify. It's not a deep dark smoky/ashy espresso roast like you might get at Starbucks. I would describe the texture or mouth feel as neutral - neither astringent nor oily.  I always get the medium -  three shots in a 16 oz cup filled to a little less than an inch from the top with water. That's how I drink it. I may experiment with that water ratio before continuing, but it's the rough equivalent of how I dilute my aeropress brews. (PCH Review here.)

As I travel I will try to keep those reference points for comparison. In my ratings, the Federico Ceballos is a 5 cupper. PCH coffee rates 4 cups.

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