The #coffeenerds have spoken, LOUDLY!

We heard ya'll! 

Starting today, all 12 oz. bags of BlackNerd Coffee, Colombia Whole Bean, Sidamo Whole Bean, Sidamo Ground, are now available as a subscription.

We have 2 subscription options:

• WEEKLY - Save 10% when you subscribe to receive your coffee weekly.
• EVERY 2 WEEKS- Save 5% when you subscribe to receive your coffee every two weeks. 

Now you'll never forget to order that delicious BlackNerd Coffee which has become such an important part of your daily routine. 

Just set it, and forget it! 

If you have any questions about how to set up your subscription, you can email info@blacknerdcoffee.com or contact us here

Enjoy! 

(4 Minute Read)

What’s up Coffee Nerds?

So here’s a quick catch up from what we’ve been up to since the last time we blogged:

• We shipped our 100^th order! #CoffeeIncoming
• New partnership alert - In a matter of weeks, our humble little creations of BlackNerd Coffee will become an essential part of the morning (or daily) routine of so many WFH employees. So cool!

Now what’s this blog really about? Well, we wanted to focus this blog post on the steps we took during one of our recent coffee installations.

When one of our partners decided to start offering our Ethiopia - Sidamo and Colombia - Single Origin whole beans as a coffee offering to their members, the entire staff at BlackNerd Coffee insisted that we help with the coffee installation.

Let’s recall the three factors that go into the perfect cup of coffee?

• Brew Method
• Grind Size
• Coffee:Water Ratio

First things first, switch out their existing beans for BlackNerd Coffee. We changed nothing else in the settings and brewed a small serving. What did we notice? The coffee didn’t have the flavor that we expected to recognize immediately.

What did we do? Well, we put on our problem-solving nerd hats and began to troubleshoot their entire coffeemaking configuration.

BREW METHOD. This partner was using a conventional drip coffee maker as their brew method.

GRIND SIZE. The industrial grinder they were using came with a factory installed setting. We ran a test grind and discovered the grind size setting was turning out coffee grinds larger and coarser than what their brew method was (conventional large capacity drip). Typically, with conventional drip coffee makers you’ll want a grind size similar to what you would get from pre-ground coffee. Not as fine as say espresso or instant coffee, but not as coarse as you would in a Chemex or French press. Working with the client, we recommended changing the grind setting to a finer grind setting. Following the manufacturer’s recommendations (we read the manual online) we adjusted the grind size to produce ground coffee size grounds. First Win!

Ok, so now that we’ve got grind size right, and we know what the brew method is, the only thing left is coffee:water ratio.

COFFEE:WATER RATIO. The installed grinder, on its previous setting, was supposed to produce 4oz of ground coffee. However, further reading of the manual of the grinder said that adjusting the grind to a finer grind size and changing nothing else would probably affect the amount of coffee of each grind. That’s exactly what happened. After adjusting the grind size, we noticed that the same settings were producing 25% less coffee by weight. (The grinder is a timed mechanical sequence, and we didn’t feel comfortable adjusting the factory installed timing because that would require re-programming the controller internal to the grinder). So now that we know that we’re getting 25% less coffee because of the next step was to make sure we had the right amount of water for our new coffee:water ratio.

Remember our ideal coffee:water ratio for drip coffee brew method is 1:16.67. Which means that if we are getting 3oz (84g) of coffee from the grinder for a “small” batch and 6oz (168g) of coffee for a “large” batch, then we should be using 1400 ml of water for a “small” batch and 2800 ml of water for a “large” batch.

Are you keeping up with the math?

• Convert grams mass to ounces mass and then
• Convert gallons liquid to milliliters liquid

Grind size? Check. Brew method? Check. Coffee:Water ratio? Check.

Time to brew.

Woohoo! Those first cups of BlackNerd Coffee tasted just as we expected. We were finally ready to walk away from this coffee installation.

To make a long story short (we can get carried away with all this coffee nerdiness) we here at BlackNerd Coffee are willing to go every step of the way with you on this coffee journey to make sure that you enjoy our coffee that way it was intended to be enjoyed.

This partner of ours can finally say goodbye to “just okay” coffee.

(3 Minute Read)

Is it snowing where you are? Because it’s snowing here and we are loving it.

Snow days are a good day to stay inside, snuggle up, bundle up, and pour up … a cup of BlackNerd Coffee. Maybe some Ethiopia - Sidamo – Medium Roast perhaps?

So, while the snow was coming down nicely to form a soft, pillowy blanket that eventually the little black nerds will attack, we were busy inside messing around with some coffee grind sizes.

We briefly mentioned coffee grind size in a previous post. This post, we want to dig into the details regarding the different types of coffee bean grinders. There are mainly two types of coffee grinders available: blade and burr.

If you’re asking which one is best for you, well it depends. The major factors that people use to choose one over the other are price and grind quality / consistency.

First, blade grinders. You’ll easily find some affordable blade grinders online and on store shelves. The way it works is just as you would imagine. There’s a blade that slices (and dices) the coffee beans into tiny little pieces for when you’re ready to brew. You’ll typically see a lot of uneven grind pieces when using a blade grinder. Blade grinders are typically the first foray into in-depth brewing that people use, so they are a great way to get into the whole coffee making experience.

Then, there’s the burr grinder. This type of grinder is the coffee enthusiasts’ standard when it comes to coffee grinders. There are two types of burr grinders: conical burr and flat burr. Here at BlackNerd Coffee, we use conical burr grinders (manual and automatic). We like them for consistency and control of the grind size. The way a burr grinder works is there are two main parts: an inner cone shaped burr and an outer serrated burr. The settings on the burr grinder are adjusted (from fine to coarse). This adjustment causes the outer and inner burrs to be closer or further apart dependent on your selection.

Since we started doing more French press brews, we typically start with a coarse grind size (think large pieces of kosher salt). This grind size is best for French press brewing because with French press you’re steeping the grounds in the hot water instead of pouring it over and through a filter. Anything smaller would directly impact the time that you should steep your coffee (longer steeps of finer coffee grind size will produce a “stronger” coffee).

It is best that you experiment for the grind size, water steeping time (extraction) and coffee to water ratio that suits your taste.

Let’s do a quick comparison:

Here are some of the tools we use to make our coffee at BlackNerd Coffee HQ:

(As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a small commission.)

• Chemex 8 Cup Pour Over Brewer
• Chemex Filters
• Bonavita Electric Kettle
• Eravsom Digital Scale
• Cuisinart Auto Burr Grinder
• Javapresse Manual grinder
• Veken French press

Okay, now that you’ve got your specs and your tools, go and make great coffee. You deserve more than “just okay” coffee.

Additional News:

• You can now buy our Ethiopia - Sidamo Whole Bean or Colombia - Single Origin Whole bean in a larger 5lb bulk bag. Email info@blacknerdcoffee.com for more details and inquire about our wholesale pricing program
• The people have spoken and we are listening. Look out for an announcement to start offering coffee purchases on subscription. Set it and forget it. Never run out of BlackNerd Coffee (imagine the horror?!)
• Check our social media posts and find out who our first corporate partner is. Hint, hint – There’s been a buzz around town.