This is an audio commentary of the article ‘NZ’s next top barista - following Matt Ross’ road to the NZ Barista champs’ and has been pulled together by NotebookLM - a Google AI product.

It’s used this article as a basis for an incredible conversation that sounds like a real discussion between two people - but it’s all AI. So they’ve used their learning to expand on some stuff that I haven’t. It’s pretty wild

As it’s AI, they mucked up one detail - they say this is Matt’s 3rd champs, and exclaim ‘third time’s a charm’ - but this is Matt’s 4th champs.

That aside, this is a fun way to get into this article and hear more about Matt and the NZ Barista Champs. I’ll continue to explore tools like this to help make The Magic Roast as accessible to as many people as I can.

Check out the article for even more information on Matt Ross:

Welcome back to The Magic Roast’s BEAN OF THE MONTH. This is a short audio blast to the ear drums where I tell you about an amazing coffee you need to try.

Now this month’s coffee isn’t actually a specific bean from a specific roaster. It’s actually coffee processing method. Anaerobic fermentation.

Check out the podcast to hear more about this amazing process method. You can read more about anaerobic fermentation over on Sprudge, or check out this article about processing generally, from A Perfect Daily Grind.

Support The Magic Roast by sharing this podcast, subscribing to my Substack at www.themagicroast.com or buying me a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/themagicroast.

Welcome back to The Magic Roast’s BEAN OF THE MONTH. This is a short segment where I tell you about an amazing coffee you need to try.

This month’s BEAN OF THE MONTH is from Firsthand Coffee in Hawkes Bay. It’s the Colombia Piendamo.

The unique thing about this coffee is that the green beans were aged in a Pinot Noir wine barrel, that had also been used to age Gin. The folk at Firsthand did this before it was roasted.

Check out more at www.themagicroast.com, including my go to AeroPress reciepe that you need to try.

Welcome to the second installment of the BEAN OF THE MONTH. A short, espresso sized nugget of fun where I get to recommend a great coffee I think you’ll love.

There’s a competition for those who want to win this coffee! Listen to the audio and check out the end of the post to learn how to enter. Entries close 31 July 2022.

July’s Bean of the month is Chilled Out Coffee Roaster's’ Los Azacuances

This month’s BEAN OF THE MONTH is the Los Azacuanes, grown in El Salvador and roasted by Jo from Chilled Out Coffee Roasters.

This coffee has something for everyone, from the everyday coffee drinker who just wants an easy coffee, to the hard core coffee enthusiast.

The Los Azacuanes is well rounded. By that I mean in most brew methods, it has a bit of everything you want from a coffee – a bit of sweetness, a bit of bitterness, a bit of acid – all working in harmony to make a really pleasant and easy to drink coffee.

The great thing about this coffee is that through different brew methods, you can really bring out different characteristics.

In the AeroPress the sweetness shone through. In the stovetop moka pot a pleasant acidity came out. In the plunger, it was juicy and light.  

That’s what I really love about this coffee – it’s like three coffees in one, and depending on your mood, you can play with it to taste like nothing else.

My brew recipes

I tried this coffee in a range of brewers, so anyone at home could find a great way to brew it.

So, in no particular order, here’s my brew recipes for this coffee.

AeroPress

* 20g of coffee - fine/medium grind size

* 230g of water at 95 degrees

* 1:45 minute total brew time

* Inverted

* Do a 70g bloom pour and let that hang for 30 seconds. Then give it a swirl for 15 seconds. At 45 seconds put in the rest of the water so you get a total of 230g of water. Let it rest until 1:45 minutes, put on your cup and press for 30 seconds.

Stovetop Mokapot

* 28g of coffee - fine-ish grind. No where near an espresso grind. Slightly (slightly) finer than a V60. Don’t go too fine.

* 280g of water

* I have previously written about my Mokapot method. Put boiling water in the bottom chamber, put it all together and let it sit on a low heat on the stove with the lid open. Don’t brew too fast otherwise you’ll burn the coffee. Let it brew and as soon as it starts to splutter everywhere, cool down the chamber. Serve.

Plunger/French press

* 30g of coffee - medium grind. Shoot for like a Chemex grind. No where near a coarse grind. A solid medium.

* 500g of water at 95 degrees.

* 8:00 total brew time.

* I used the James Hoffman method. Basically, water onto the coffee, stir, scoop of the scunge, then let it sit for up to 8 minutes. A long time, but worth it. Then plunge down only a small way - the filter is there to keep the big bits out. Serve.

* Remember, if you don’t own a French press, you can use an old boot.

Download the brew methods for this month’s BEAN OF THE MONTH

Chilled Out Coffee Roasters

Chilled Out Coffee Roasters is an awesome little roastery, doing small batches of really interesting coffee. Jo launched it during the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic and its really taking off.

I spoke to Jo back in 2021. He’s a great guy!

Sean, The Drumming Barista, more recently spoke to Jo on the Home Barista Podcast. It’s worth a listen.

Head over to Chilled Out Coffee Roasters, where you can spin the wheel to get some discounts or swag, and pick up a bag of this amazing coffee while you can.

Competition time

If you listen carefully to the audio for this month’s BEAN OF THE MONTH, you’ll hear me butcher a great bass line. If you can pick what that is, you’ll win a 3D printed WDT, and a bag of this month’s coffee. Entries close 31 July.

Comment below with your answer, or drop me a DM on Instagram. It’s hard, so I’ll drop some hints over on Instagram this month.

Thanks for tuning in to this months BEAN OF THE MONTH. I’ve got some great coffees ready to taste and I’m looking forward to sharing some more great coffee!

Buy me a coffee if you want. It’s super easy.

Welcome to the first edition of the BEAN OF THE MONTH. A quick and easy 2 minute segment where I tell you about a coffee you need to drown your mouth bones in. Got to be quick, got to be fast.

Have a listen and then have a read!

Straight off the bat - thanks to Tom for this amazing segment idea. He gets 50% of all proceeds as royalties! Make it worth his while.

June’s Bean of the month is Firsthand’s Specialty Instant Coffee.

Coming out strong with an instant coffee as the first BEAN OF THE MONTH is bold. There are so many great “specialty” coffees to try, instant might feel like a weird choice. However, this blog is for coffee lovers of all types, and this instant coffee genuinely gets me excited, so lets start here.

So, why choose instant?

Instant coffee has a bad wrap, and in many cases, justifiably so. But it doesn’t have to be bad. Specialty instant coffee is great for people who don’t want to compromise taste, even if time or convenience isn’t on their side.

Firsthand’s specialty instant is an amazing coffee, that is easy to make, can be made anywhere you are, and wont let you down.

It’s not cheap though at $30 a pot. For that you get about 20 serves so around $1.50 a serve.

This does mean it’s more expensive than a supermarket instant, more expensive than a Nespresso pod (but Nespresso is evil), and a lot more expensive than brewing a V60 or swiss gold from beans. BUT the instant nature of it means you don’t need any equipment, just a cup and some water.

Once you take into account taste, convenience and flexibility, it’s actually amazing value.

I reach for the instant on those Sunday mornings when I am just too tired (or when the weather has been so bad my sleepout flooded), or the kids are too noisy, to brew a soft brew.

I also reach for this on holiday – it’s replaced my Aeropress as my go to holiday brew.

Protip - you’re not brewing it!

Protip thanks to the amazing The Drumming Barista: you’re not brewing this, rather you are dissolving it. So don’t use boiling water! Aim for about 80 degrees. If you have a thermometer, great! If not, boil the jug, open the lid and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Have fun with it

Firsthand’s instant is so good, you can really have some fun with it.

The Drumming Barista has a great write up of instant coffees on his blog. During the instant coffee week over on his instagram, he made it hot, cold, and as a flat white!

He even made an espresso martini with it!

And I really enjoyed it as a coffee soda tonic

Where else can I find out about Firsthand’s Instant Coffee?

It’s so good, The Drumming Barista and I talk about it on The Home Barista podcast. Out now on all your favorite podcasting networks.

So there you go

My first Bean of the month is Firsthand’s Specialty Instant.

Let me know what you think about this new format! In true punk styles, I’m doing it DIY and without polish. There’s a million people doing this stuff better than me, but instead of joining them, I’m going to tread my own path.

Until next time.

TMR

If you love what you’re reading, you can support me really easily by sharing this post, or buying me a virtual coffee! It’s easy, legit, and keeps me caffeinated.