{"id":6097,"date":"2019-09-16T10:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6097"},"modified":"2019-09-08T22:41:20","modified_gmt":"2019-09-09T03:41:20","slug":"review-blue-bottle-coffee-giant-steps-oakland-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6097","title":{"rendered":"Review: Blue Bottle Coffee Giant Steps (Oakland, California)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

James Freeman, the founder of Blue Bottle, is a former professional clarinet player, and I’ve always appreciated the occasional musical references thrown into the names and descriptions of his company’s coffees (for instance, the “Brahmsian” characteristics of Blue Bottle’s Hayes Valley Espresso<\/a>). This particular blend was named after John Coltrane’s Giant Steps<\/em>, and Blue Bottle’s site describes this as their darkest blend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whole bean: Strong medium roast. There’s just the barest hint of oil on these beans – an occasional slick spot, not a consistent sheen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French press: This tasted of cedar and earthy, rich chocolate. Not very sweet. This should please darker roast fans. As this coffee cools, it smooths and sweetens into a plush, dark-chocolate flavored cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chemex: Strong chocolate flavor with the most amount of sweetness of any of the brew methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V60: Dark chocolate with a clean and thin mouthfeel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Espresso: Given my good results with trying Blue Bottle’s Bella Donovan<\/a> as espresso, I was curious to do the same with Giant Steps. It took a few tries, but on the fourth pass I got what I felt to be my best shot from the bag. It had a fine flavor balance and nice texture. I think I ultimately prefer these beans brewed as coffee, but it made a decent espresso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Favorite parameters for this blend: 203 degrees Fahrenheit, 18 grams in, 40 grams out, 22 seconds from first pour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With milk: I can’t say I had a particular preference of this espresso with milk or without – both were perfectly drinkable!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary<\/strong>: This is a blend meant for consistency and comfort, and I liked it best brewed in a Chemex for the way it brought out the sweet chocolaty flavors in the coffee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the roaster: cocoa, toasted marshmallow, graham cracker<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blue Bottle Coffee Giant Steps<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Review conducted 5-9 days post-roast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Freeman, the founder of Blue Bottle, is a former professional clarinet player, and I’ve always appreciated the occasional musical references thrown into the names and descriptions of his company’s coffees (for instance, the “Brahmsian” characteristics of Blue Bottle’s Hayes Valley Espresso). This particular blend was named after John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, and Blue Bottle’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"From Blue Bottle's site: Named after John Coltrane\u2019s Giant Steps, this dense and substantial coffee is not unlike the jazz visionary's signature \"sheets of sound.\"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[87,156,3,154],"tags":[296,18,42,36,44,72,283],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG-7720-e1567995146857.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6100,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6100","url_meta":{"origin":6097,"position":0},"title":"Review: Blue Bottle Coffee Summer Blend (Oakland, California)","date":"September 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Blue Bottle Coffee offers seasonal blends, and I was fortunate enough to pick up a bag of their Summer Blend while it was still available. 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But, cold coffee\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ready To Drink"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/IMG-5964-e1548601382739.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2429,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2429","url_meta":{"origin":6097,"position":4},"title":"Review: Blue Bottle Kenya Embu Gikirima (Oakland, California)","date":"January 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Technically, I purchased this coffee at the end of 2016 and wrote up notes on it very soon after purchase, but I wanted to save the review to start the new year off with a bang, and Blue Bottle seemed like a good roaster to start this blog off on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Africa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/tn_FullSizeRender.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":216,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=216","url_meta":{"origin":6097,"position":5},"title":"Review: Counter Culture Hologram Espresso (Durham, North Carolina)","date":"April 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm excited to check another roaster off of my coffee bucket list. 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