What I'm Drinking (Deep Cello - Black Tie)

This is the second of posts on the coffees I'm working my way through. This time I’m discussing Deep Cello's Black Tie blend.
I don't make espresso (I just have a cheap machine that I haven't used since I got the Aeropress). If you're interested in reading about how this plays with espresso, you should check out EricBNC's post here.

I’ll just get it out of the way and say that I'm skeptical of the valveless bag this coffee comes in. It is at least lined on the inside, it isn’t just a standard paper bag. I’m not sure if it will make a big difference in taste quality, but I’ve decided not to move it to an airtight container and just let it sit in the bag it came in.


This blend comes from four different regions: Brazil, Ethiopia, Mexico and Panama. The description from the website has some tasty imagery: “Brazil nut, subtle tangerine, caramel, plum and apricot” as well as some that might make you a bit hesitant: “top soil, steak, smoke, and portobello mushroom”


This review comes after making coffee 3, 4 and 5 days after the roast date.

Drip Coffee

The beans were prepared using a burr grinder and brewed using a standard drip coffee maker (think one in the $12-$15 range). It was an ok cup of coffee. Not really remarkable.

Aeropress (Coffee)

The beans were prepared using a burr grinder and brewed via Aeropress. This was quite a bit better than the drip method. Not too much in the way of bitterness and a bit of those a sweet tastes began to shine through. Even though I usually add a bit of sugar, I drank this black.

UPDATE: After a bit of prodding by Intrepid510, I decided to give this another go because I had brewed this at the earliest roast date on day 3. Now it's day 5, so I rebrewed it and tthere is a difference. I'm tasting much more of the caramel now and the sweetness has gone up quite a bit. It's gone from slightly above average to solidly above average in my estimation now. The mouthfeel is quite good, although I do have a bit of bitterness in the aftertaste (using about 200F water). 

Aeropress (Mocha)

The beans were prepared using a burr grinder and brewed via Aeropress (with 1% milk/Ghirardelli White Chocolate Powder). This is where the blend really shone. The taste with milk was great, the coffee and milk walk hand in hand instead of one overpowering the other. The sugar and flavors from the white chocolate powder synergize wonderfully with the natural sweetness of the blend.

Conclusion

I would recommend this blend if you're looking to get into coffee that works well with milk. If you like your coffee black then you could certainly do worse than Black Tie (just give it a few days).