Gingerlime

This is the final post on this series. I started by covering the method for A/B testing coffee, as well as the motivation and approach. I later wrote about the first test session using Hario V60, comparing those beans by making Espresso and the last post described two preparation methods Aeropress and Cappucino.

I repeated a similar process using various combinations of A, B, C, D and E coffee beans. This post will be more brief, with the “results” based on my personal preferences and how I ended up scoring all 5 types of beans.

On previous posts I covered the method for A/B testing coffee, as well as the motivation and approach. I later wrote about the first test session using Hario V60. The last post was comparing those beans by making Espresso.

This post will cover two tasting sessions of the same mysterious A and B beans: Aeropress and Cappuccino.

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?

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.

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!