The Coffee Blog

Urban Mill: A Review

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:56:47 -0400

This is my first trip to Urban Mill located on Michigan Ave. in Grand Rapids, MI. The establishment has provided a nice quiet atmosphere conducive to studying. There are plenty of tables with a variety of classic wooden chairs and your more comfortable type. The music is slow and soft, it acts as a perfect white noise. The menu is ample. Their moderate selection of espresso drinks (which you can order hot, iced or frozen) is accompanied by a slightly smaller list of beverages for those who prefer something of a different variety. The menu is completed with a compilation of salads and sandwiches and finished on the sweet note of an ice cream bar, stocked with Hudsonville ice cream.

The above mentioned is all well and good, but I am here to bring judgement to their brewed coffee; which leaves something to be desired. My preferred coffee profile is bright, with a fruity acidity and some nice milk chocolate overtones, which are flavors that when in beans, are most prevalent and lighter roasts; naturally I chose to purchase the lighter roast. Sadly my cup was lacking all desirable flavors. In their place was taste of your typical cheap, old beans; which coincidently are the flavors most people know coffee to contain. This is because large coffee companies let their beans sit out for months in order to achieve a consistent flavor in their product. I can only assume this is the process that Urban Mill’s beans go through.

To conclude this unfortunately disappointing review I remind you that Urban Mill is a great place to come and study, and, if you have not refined your palate such as I have you may find the coffee enjoyable as well.

Hi there, I was wondering if you meant that your Roast #8 was an Indian Monsooned Malabar? I have the same beans and the are indeed a bit yellowish. I am trying different roasts, so far they are realy great in taste.

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:41:43 -0400

Yeah. I really enjoyed that bean at a variety of roasts. I have moved on to a Peruvian bean now, very good at a light roast.

libertarians asked:Nope, I had completely forgotten about it! Thank you for sending it again....

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:52:24 -0500

libertarians asked:Nope, I had completely forgotten about it! Thank you for sending it again. Tat’s so cool you have a separate blog for coffee. Hahaha Charbuck’s. I hate their coffee so much. It always tastes burnt and shitty. I’ll have to try the 8 o’clock coffee since I’m on a tight college budget, but I’ll check if there’s a roaster in the area when I go back home to North Carolina. Why is it important to grind your own beans, and how do I go about doing that?

I love all of this information. It reminds me of when I was getting into cigars.

The longer the grounds sit after being taken from bean form to ground form, the more flavor they lose. Grinding them immediately before you brew gives you maximum flavor. You can get little crappy grinders for fairly cheap, I used one for a while until I got a nicer Burr grinder, and make sure you buy whole beans if you are going to do this. Once you get started you can research different granule sizes depending on brewing method and experiment to see how to get the best size with you grinder.

libertarians replied to your post: Coffee enthusiast huh? What’s your favorite? What would you...

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 15:49:00 -0500

libertarians replied to your post: Coffee enthusiast huh? What’s your favorite?

What would you recommend for me just beginning to drink coffee? I always get mine sweet if that has anything to do with it.

This question was asked on my political blog.

If you are just starting I would suggest avoiding places like Charbucks or Seattle’s Best. What they serve is not worthy to be called coffee. Find a place that roasts their own beans if you want the best beginning experience.

If you are brewing your own get a grinder and buy whole bean, if you are on a budget I would recommend 8 o’clock coffee, and the beans are not bad either. If you are not on a budget see if their is a roaster in the area.

For Just any old cup though I would recommend trying it black, if you are not fond of that stick with your sweeteners and slowly bring the sweetness down until you can drink it black.

And remember. Grind your own beans!

Roast #8

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:25:39 -0500

I skipped roast #7 because I gave it away, also I completely forgot to do a roast journal entry.

My latest bean is an Indian bean, a monsoon malimar. It is a weird bean to roast since when unroasted it is yellow instead of green, which through me off when I was roasting. I tried to take it to a medium-ish roast (recommended is vienna, I like to start lighter and work up to recommended). It was difficult to tell when it was there by colour. I might be unhappy with this roast, we will see tomorrow.

Rowster: A Pleasant Place to Enjoy Coffee

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:42:00 -0500

I made my way over to Rowster today, a local coffee shop that roasts their own coffee, and I must say that it is an absolutely wonderful place. The atmosphere is quite lovely. It is very open with minimal seating, although a nice variety of bar stools and comfy chairs. There is jazz music playing softly in the background and the sounds of lively discussion between customers and staff, it is truly an inviting noise.

On to the coffee. They deal mostly in brewed coffee but they have a decent selection of espresso drinks as well. The selection of brewed coffee is what has impressed me the most. They offer three different ways to have it prepared, press pot, siphon pot and pour over drip, and three different methods of pour over drip at that. ‘New American Style’, ‘V-60’ and the ever classic ‘Chemex’. For espresso they offer a double shot with dairy in a variety of sizes and have some flavour shots if you wish for a more interesting latte. What really intrigues me though is some titled ‘Long Pull’. I have not experienced an espresso in this manner, although I am convinced I must.

Today I went for 10 oz. prepared in the way of the ‘New American Style’. I am not quite sure on the bean that I received, but it sure did gain my approval. This brew had some fruity overtones, so I can only assume it was a lighter roast, probably something along the lines of full city. It was a very smooth cup of coffee, that is a side effect of the pour over drip brewing method and a very good side effect at that. It was served in a metal pot with a ~3.5 oz. ceramic cup to drink from. This allowed me to take my time and enjoy the beverage without much worry of the bottom of the mug losing heat on me, a very smart way of doing things if I may have an opinion.

Basically Rowster has captured beautifully the dream of my perfect coffee shop and the idea of one that I want to open one day, with maybe a slight change in music to a more folkesque sound. I give Rowster a giant thumbs up and would highly suggest it if you are ever in the Grand Rapids area.

I need to roast.

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:20:33 -0500

In the meantime I will be making Turkish coffee. Delicious.

Photo

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:18:44 -0500

Syphon Pot's

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 11:13:51 -0500

take a long time to brew.

I love my parents.

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:31:06 -0500

letpenmeetpaper:

Father: Did you just put pepper in your coffee???

Mother: Did I?

Father: Yes, I think you did… Why?!

Mother: Because I was watching you, and you put pepper on your egg!

These are my parents (for real, letpenmeetpaper is my little sister).

Moroccan Coffee

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:20:46 -0500

Moroccan Coffee:

Sounds interesting. I may have to try some sometime.

Have you tried Aeropress coffee?

It's my favourite brewing method.

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 11:35:03 -0500

Sadly I have not. I have only tried french press, syphon pot, pour over drip, and auto drip for brewed coffee. I am planning on picking up an Aeropress sometime though.

Don't you hate it when

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:39:00 -0500

you brew the first pot with your latest roast and forget to do a taste profile? I did figure out the right setting on my burr grinder for proper granule size for syphon pot brewing though.

Edit: And then you continue to do it for the following three pots?

workinginthebasement: coffeeblog: We have relished many of...

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:34:57 -0500

workinginthebasement:

coffeeblog:

We have relished many of Oliver Strand’s coffee writings in the NY Times. Here’s one for the other than espresso crew; Coffee’s Slow Dance

Nice photo.

Nice method of brewing coffee.

I need to get myself a pour over drip to go with my press pot, syphon pot, ibrik and espresso machine.

Roast #6

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:12:31 -0500

I took the Sumatra a little lighter again, somewhere between a medium and an espresso roast. I will try it both press pot and syphon pot.

Heating up the pan

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:29:59 -0500

for roast #6.

Syphon Pot

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:01:10 -0500

Well friends I finally got around to trying out my syphon pot (vac pot) this afternoon. The brewing time is long, roughly ten minutes, but the taste and body are wonderful. This method produces a very smooth beverage with a nice full flavour. There is no bitterness because the way that it brews does not allow boiling water to hit the grounds, which is wonderful. Now i just need to perfect the grounds to water ratio.

Roast #5

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:00:56 -0500

This is going to be an all in one post folks.

I followed my basic roasting techniques to take this Sumatra to a darker roast as I had planned. I might have taken it too dark though. In fact I did take it too dark. I am finding it difficult to get a roast to Italian or French and not have some burnt beans. I think I will stick to espresso as the darkest until I acquire the next tier of roasting skill.

Until next time.

Roast #4: Update

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 14:21:48 -0500

I am a big fan of this Sumatra. This particular roast could have been a little darker. Which I will do next time. I think it is safe to say that this is my favorite roast yet, due to the bean being more my type. There is certainly room for improvement though.

Concerts

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 14:06:17 -0500

I will update on the flavour of Roast #4 soon. I keep forgetting to analyze the coffee while I am drinking it. Instead I will review the two concerts I went to this weekend.

Friday night, Folk Night at the DAAC (Division Ave. Arts Collective). This was my first time at the DAAC and I was impressed with the venue. It was quite small, which I love, and the atmosphere was delightful. Brick walls with woods floors made for a nice laid back evening. Josiah Gentry’s new band, Sleeping Bear was headlining with four other bands opening. The night opened with a single guy on keys singing some originals as well as a cover or two. He was enjoyable although could be better with the addition of one or two other tasteful instruments. The second act was my friend Tim and his talented friend Hana. They did a wonderful job for only practicing together for two weeks. They did two Tim originals, one Hana original and a cover. Tim is a wonderful lyricist, I always enjoy hearing his songs. Next was a guy who I didn’t really catch his name but I think it was something like TJ. He had his acoustic and a mic. He did mostly originals and had a wonderful voice, one that I could have listened too for much longer than he played. The fourth band was possibly my favorite, Doug Mains & The City Folk. Armed with an acoustic guitar, violin/mandolin, cello/accordion, and a double bass, they put on a show that left me wanting more of them. I am going to have to see them again. Although I have lived in Grand Rapids area for a year and a half now this was my first Josiah Gentry show, who is a pretty big name around these parts. Sleeping Bear is newly formed and I think they have the potential to do pretty decent. Josiah is a wonderful song writer and the people he has brought around him complement him quite well. Overall this was one of my favorite shows I have been too.

Saturday I went to the mewithoutyou concert at Calvin College. Corrupted Saints opened for them and unfortunately I only caught the last three songs of theirs, but I enjoyed them thoroughly. They created beautiful folk worship music with an acoustic guitar and a cello, it complemented the previous night quite wonderfully. Now I went to this show with only a little experience with mewithoutyou. I knew there basic style but I had not listened to even a whole album. If you have not listened to them I suggest doing so as they are unique in there sound. I really enjoyed the lyrics that Aaron brought to the songs and his spoken word style of singing. It put me in the mood for Bradley Hathaway.