A short chat with Velton Ross (of Velton's Roaster's).
It is not secret that I really enjoyed Velton’s Bonsai Blend when I picked it up a few weeks ago. At the time I contacted Velton’s to see if they had any advice on how to pull it and unlike most roasters where you are lucky to get someone to answer your questions who really knows the blend, with Velton’s I was thrilled to get answers from Velton himself.
After writing about the blend I wanted to make sure I hadn’t been too far off on facts that I guessed and so I followed up with him about what I had written in my blogs. Some of his comments confirmed my guesses and others were eye opening to me about coffee in general. Here are some of the interesting things I learned in exchanges with Velton…
The first of these two posts will be centered on the advice he gave before I pulled my first shot. Note that I am putting our names in to distinguish who is speaking in the quote, but it is not to imply that this was a conversation. It is taken from email exchanges rather than a traditional interview.
Velton: “Here’s my “current” brew parameters for the blend as is:
Bonsai begins to get decent around day 3 post roast with the “sweet spot” occurring days 6-8; that’s when I feel it really begins to come into its own.
16-18 gram dose (I like 18, but don’t listen to us roasters – we always want folks to updose) 8 seconds pre-infusion if possible, if not no worries, 28-33 second extraction of 1.5 -1.75 oz, 200.5F – 201F.
I definitely think the biggest issues with this blend occur when pulled too quickly. When the flow rate is on the slower end of the scale I find Bonsai to be fairly receptive to a broad range of parameters with some nice room for play.”
Me: I found that he was right about the peak starting at around day 6 and I did not see it drop off for a while after that well past day 8. The temperature was about what I settled on, but the dose I preferred was 14-15 grams. Part 2 will be some of his responses to my blog. It is pretty amazing to get this kind of feedback direct from the source! Expect to see part 2 coming soon - hopefully tomorrow...
After writing about the blend I wanted to make sure I hadn’t been too far off on facts that I guessed and so I followed up with him about what I had written in my blogs. Some of his comments confirmed my guesses and others were eye opening to me about coffee in general. Here are some of the interesting things I learned in exchanges with Velton…
The first of these two posts will be centered on the advice he gave before I pulled my first shot. Note that I am putting our names in to distinguish who is speaking in the quote, but it is not to imply that this was a conversation. It is taken from email exchanges rather than a traditional interview.
Velton: “Here’s my “current” brew parameters for the blend as is:
Bonsai begins to get decent around day 3 post roast with the “sweet spot” occurring days 6-8; that’s when I feel it really begins to come into its own.
16-18 gram dose (I like 18, but don’t listen to us roasters – we always want folks to updose) 8 seconds pre-infusion if possible, if not no worries, 28-33 second extraction of 1.5 -1.75 oz, 200.5F – 201F.
I definitely think the biggest issues with this blend occur when pulled too quickly. When the flow rate is on the slower end of the scale I find Bonsai to be fairly receptive to a broad range of parameters with some nice room for play.”
Me: I found that he was right about the peak starting at around day 6 and I did not see it drop off for a while after that well past day 8. The temperature was about what I settled on, but the dose I preferred was 14-15 grams. Part 2 will be some of his responses to my blog. It is pretty amazing to get this kind of feedback direct from the source! Expect to see part 2 coming soon - hopefully tomorrow...
Leave a comment