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coffee optimization

Coffee A/B Tasting – Creme de la Crema

On my previous post, I covered the first blind A/B tasting session using the “Gingerlime Tasting Technique” ™. You can read some more background about the motivation and method, as well as a full list of coffees I’m comparing on the first post in the series.

After the first taste using pour-over Hario V60 filter, I was anxious to find out whether both A and B coffees will show similar characteristics using other preparation methods. Namely: Espresso, Aeroproess and Cappuccino. Would B stay my favourite when served with milk? Would the Aeropress extract different flavours out of A than I managed with the Hario?

Categories
coffee optimization

Coffee A/B testing – first A/B taste

This is the second post in a series, exploring the “Gingerlime Tasting Technique” ™. You can read some background on the previous post, where I explain the motivation, testing method and how I started exploring A/B testing for coffee. Different tasting sessions comparing two types of beans and trying to choose the best out of the two.

A taste test

The first tasting was between coffee A and B (still unknown to me at this point in time). The test was actually a series of 4 different tasting sessions. Each session used a different method of making coffee: Hario V60 filter, Espresso, Aeropress and a Cappuccino.

Categories
coffee optimization

Coffee A/B testing

I do quite a bit of A/B testing and find it to be a great tool for experimenting and ultimately improving things.

But what’s “Coffee A/B testing”?

The idea came to me when I was visiting my wife’s family in Japan. We went to a restaurant and my father and brother in-law ordered two types of Sake. They let me taste both and decide which one I liked the most. It was a simple task, but an interesting one. The tastes were subtly different, but enough that I could clearly pick my personal favourite.

It then occurred to me that as much as I love coffee, and tend to pick some beans over others, I don’t quite know what makes me like a certain type, or what it is that I’m looking for for my “ultimate” coffee.

What if I could A/B test coffees? Try two types of beans (or blends), and pick the one I like. Then repeating the process I could gradually find the one I like the most. And in doing that, I can also figure out what it is that I like, and pay more attention to the difference. I rarely compare coffees. Well, not any more!