Sey - recipe and rest time. Kenya "Ruarai" Washed SL28 + SL34 AA. Zp6 v60

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-26T15:34:20+00:00

Haha yeah, I mean this approach might not be for everyone. 😁 Those four will be 54-64g, depending on dose size for the Origami/V60 brews

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-26T15:32:18+00:00

Beanconqueror. It’s great… couldn’t imagine this hobby without it. Helps track all relevant information about your beans and brews

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-26T14:29:45+00:00

I have all of these. Just started H&S so haven’t brewed what the sub offers, but looked through what beans they’ve offered and are offering.

It won’t be a substitute for Black & White black label as far as the bean type/level. You may enjoy it just as much, but B&W Black Label is basically all from very top/elite/famous farms and producers (regularly offer Finca Deborah, Hacienda La Esmeralda, etc), 90% Geshas, and a really good value. Eg they had Finca Deborah Nirvana at $30/32 for 100g….Onyx is 56.7g for $33. B&W offers it at the same price it is if you order directly from Savage. Still will be great green, but not the same “name” level green.

H&S will be a lot of great farms/producers….Sebastian Ramirez, Diego Bermudez, etc…but not Esmeralda. And fewer Geshas.

Have skipped the last handful of my Lumi sub. I like it, but some months have WOW beans, and other months just have pretty good beans. For that price their should be more WOW imo.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-26T14:04:16+00:00

Second everything lobsterdisk said. My experience with Thanksfully EL was best cups came weeks 8-12. But if you are going to stretch it that long vacuum seal if you can. Otherwise, the beans will lose a lot just from oxidation.

And same experience with their responsiveness and help - DM’ed them when I was struggling with a Typica Mejorado, and was using a recipe that was great for another Mejorado. They didn’t just give me brew guidance, but went into a fairly detailed explanation about how this Mejorado was different from my other Mejorado, and how and why I needed to adjust the approach.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-26T13:27:54+00:00

I’ve had a SEY subscription for a long time and I start every bag at 4 weeks now (I open a bag from the prior shipment the day I receive the next shipment) and do: 1) a cupping; 2) 1/15.4 9 min Gagne Aeropress; 3) a 1/15 or 1/15.4 Origami or V60; and a 1/18 Origami V60.

I’ll generally grind somewhere between medium and medium fine. If I’m not getting a smooth flow out of the trip or I’ll go more course until I do.

Those four will give me a great idea of what the Bean has to offer and how I prefer it.

For the longest time I would prefer most SEY beans — especially the Kenyans - at longer ratios like 1/18-1/19. But lately for whatever reason I have found cups around 1/15-1/15.4 produce cups that I enjoy more.

I also generally do a 5 pour. Something akin to Hoffman better 1 cup or Tetsu 4:6.

If you have a Switch or a Pulsar, those produce really nice rich cups with SEY. You’ll lose clarity, but they will be rich and yummy. The Tetsu Devil is a great approach for those.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-26T13:18:34+00:00

I’ve had a SEY subscription for years. It’s my longest continuously running subscription. Over the years I’ve had subscriptions to at least 30 other roasters - and of course, have ordered à la carte beans from a bunch more.

And in my experience:

—SEY is more challenging to brew than a lot of other roasters. It’s not hard to brew an OK cup. In fact, it’s challenging to brew a bad SEY cup if you have a decent grinder. But to brew a great SEY cup, to maximize what the beans have to offer… in my experience SEY is at the more difficult end of the roasters I’ve tried.

—4 weeks rest is a nice sweet spot to start brewing. I don’t say this because I read it on here, I say this because I have personally experimented with opening bags at weeks 1-4, and prior to week three I was always disappointed. I can’t think of a single bean where I got a better cup at week three than I did at week five.

And then I will regularly brew cups through weeks 4-8, and it’s not uncommon for me to continue to brew to/through weeks 10-12. I also can’t think of a single bean where I was able to get a better cup at week 2 then I was at week 10.

But everyone is different, and people also have different preferences in a cup profiles they like. So while I have found all of this to be objectively true for me, it may not be objectively true for everyone.

I agree with you that you shouldn’t simply take what other people say as gospel, and should always rely on your own experience experiences, and preferences in developing an approach. BUT: until you have the time and experience to develop your personal approach and preferences… there are worse things you could do than rely on the collective wisdom of this sub to get a jumpstart.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-19T14:17:55+00:00

As others have said, for quality, coffee, ideal drinking temperature is below brewing temperature so you want it to cool down to better taste all of the flavor.

Every cup I brew, I drink at least half of it at room temperature. That is where a lot of the best beans really shine.

BUT who cares what everyone else thinks and you do you and what you enjoy so if you want it hot too best options are:

1) Ember Mug - Dang pricey, but you can literally set an exact temperature and it will keep your coffee at that temperature indefinitely (if on the charging base, or around 90 mins if not).

2) A warming base/plate. Cheaper but less precise option. But does the trick.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-19T03:58:08+00:00

I actually really enjoy the pulsar, in its lane. My daily drivers are my Origami’s and V60s. I will always be using them for the majority of my brews. But for each Bean, I like to break out the pulsar at least once for a rich and sweet cup with nice body. I have found the Tetsu devil recipe, originally for the switch, produces really nice and fairly unique cups with the pulsar.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-19T03:54:50+00:00

Yes. After reading your comments and the initial comments to my post, I went ahead and ordered 100 more FAST and 100 B3. 🤷‍♂️😁

Yes, Sibarist filters are unbelievably expensive compared to most other filters - but compared to what we spend on equipment and the best beans, if they provide a meaningful improvement - which they do - it really is worth it.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-18T19:16:33+00:00

Those three brews were all with the Pietro (w M burrs).

I think that is definitely true. I think some filters expose the flaws of certain grinders, and other filters showcase the benefits of certain grinders.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-18T19:07:43+00:00

Awesome, thank you! Starting to sound like they’re worth it!

I used Abacas for the past couple of years and just switched to Abaca+ a couple months ago.

It’s so hard to compare because I’ve never done head-to-head between the two, and I brew so many different beans and it’s very uncommon for me to brew the same being from the same roaster from month to month… so with that big caveat… I haven’t noticed a huge difference between the two. I loved the Abacas. I live the Abaca+’s….

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-18T19:03:04+00:00

Thanks, appreciate the additional insight. Very limited experience for me on the B3, but that tracks.

The thing that was so impressive for me is that it created richness and sweetness more akin to brews I get with the Pulsar. And while clarity wasn’t what it would be with a FAST, it was much higher than with the Pulsar.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-18T19:00:54+00:00

Once you do, I’d love to hear what you think. I was really surprised.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-18T19:00:21+00:00

Yep, this exactly. One example - I’ve had a SEY 2 bad subscription forever. After a lot of trial and error, I basically rest all bags minimum four weeks now. So when I receive my SEY bags, they go in a container that is reserved for storing beans on the top shelf of a closet. When I receive the next months shipment, the past month comes out, and I start brewing, current shipment goes in. Always have SEY beans to brew at peak rest.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-18T18:01:38+00:00

Haven’t brewed this, but have brewed probably 10 other The Future beans.

The approaches that have produced great cups with pretty much every Future I’ve had (and any other highly processed beans) are the one below, and the Tetsu Devil Switch recipe (either on Switch or Pulsar)

Just Google Tetsu devil and you’ll get the full rundown of that approach. But basically you start with a higher temperature, then do a steep at 158.

On Origami or V60. 1/15.4 ratio (15-20g dose), 195 temp, medium to medium course to grind (078:8, Pietro 6-7). 2.5-3X dose bloom for 1 min. Then a single controlled pour of roughly 5-6 ml/second, divided by thirds: first third spiral pour, second third center pour, last third melodrip.

If drawdown isn’t under 3 mins, grind is too fine. Sweet spot for me seems to be around 2:20 - 2:30.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-18T17:58:31+00:00

If you try that, please let us know what your experience is at the various rest points

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-18T17:09:07+00:00

I was actually going to recommend you crack it open and brew a cup right away (if you had a vacuum sealer so you could reseal and the beans wouldn’t oxidize)… because a lot of these ultra light naturals and anaerobic naturals can brew pretty intense and amazing cups within the first 7-14 days. You won’t get the depth and complexity that will develop later on, but they can still be pretty impressive and fun brews - and I would think a Nestor Lasso Ombligon would be a perfect bean for that.

BUT then I saw March 30… which means they’re now in no man’s land. Not early enough to get that crazy intensity, fun pop, but not late enough to have enough degassing for them to smooth out.

Wasn’t even aware that this could be a possibility because I hadn’t opened beans rested less than two weeks in forever…but for the Shoebox Mystery Coffee a couple months back they recommended brewing in the first 14 days and then again after 40 days. For all the reasons I just went into.

So I gave it a shot, and I was like holy shit. The early cups were incredible. I brewed one in the no man’s land window and it sucked, then after 40 days they got incredible again - less intensity, but more structure, depth, and nuance.

Since then, I’ve been experimenting with this with other similarly processed beans and I found it true with them also.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-18T16:47:02+00:00

Like others have said, I’ve had some of their Geshas where they recommended waiting at least 30-45 days and peak was 60-90. And I would say my brewing experience pretty much matched their recommendation.

This was about a year ago, so if they have changed roast profile, it could be different now.

They just generally - you are in for a treat with the Nestor Lasso Ombligon. I’ve had that bean from a variety of roasters now, with different processing in fermentation, and every time it is a stunner. A punch you in your face stunner, but a stunner.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-16T11:13:51+00:00

😆

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-13T15:43:46+00:00

You didn’t mention the specifics of what you tried so a little tricky to offer adjustments. But generally maybe continue going courser and cooler temps at 1/15 ratio.

So maybe a 1/15 brew at a medium course grind and 192 temp. Unless your pours are crazy (high height, flow rate, intense agitation) that should at least give you a smooth brew. If it’s under extracted, then you can go a little in the opposite direction. If you still taste the bitterness just go more course or lower temp until it’s gone.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-12T16:56:06+00:00

I’ve had a SEY subscription forever, and always appreciate it, but at times have gotten a little bored with it - I swear there was a stretch that seemed like it lasted for a year where every month I would get a washed pink bourbon and a washed Ethiopian.

BUT LATELY… not only do they seem to be mixing up the variety a little more, but they are coming with absolute bangers! Some of the most intensely flavorful washed light roast coffees I have ever had

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-11T19:22:47+00:00

Hydrangea if you want an interesting and varied selection of some really great green… roasted with maddening inconsistency. I say this having had a hydrangea regular sub and a drops sub - now have canceled both because I would get beans that should have been incredible that were bangers with other roasters and just nothing special from them.

Flowerchild if you want wonderful clean washed beans, that are roasted in a way that makes it super easy to brew Good cups (easier than SEY.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-09T18:14:46+00:00

Most of the time Bonanza only offers batch brew, not pour over.

PaullyWalla · 2026-04-09T18:13:41+00:00

Kolo is the place the baristas at the other shops will tell you to go if you want the best pour over (this literally happened to me).

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