Ethiopian White Honey Taught Me This

In this episode, I get real about one of the most frustrating experiences a coffee brewer can have — doing everything "right" and still ending up with a flat, lifeless cup. I was working with an Ethiopian white honey process, medium roast that leaned lighter, and no matter what I threw at it — different grinders, different filters, faster pours — the coffee just wasn't responding. What I eventually realized was that I had been forcing the coffee into my routine instead of listening to what the coffee itself was telling me.

The turning point came when I finally paid attention to the slow drawdown and stopped fighting it. I ground finer, let the brew take three to five minutes — even went wild with a double filter setup — and the cup transformed. It became juicy, lively, and exactly what I had been chasing all along. By the end of this episode, you'll understand why your brewing routine, as solid as it is, might actually be your biggest obstacle — and how learning to observe and respond to what your coffee is doing can unlock cups you never expected. I also dig into why coffees like white honey process behave differently, and what the slow drawdown is actually trying to tell you before you rush to "fix" it.

Transcript

[0:00] Something about it was off. Yeah, I'm talking about coffee. The flavors were flat and it was puzzling me. I was getting really frustrated. Like, not again. What's going on here?

[0:31] I just couldn't get it. This was supposedly a really, really good coffee. I tried everything — slow pour, fast pour, different grinders, different filters. The coffee just wasn't working for some odd reason. I couldn't put a hand on it. I was still puzzled.

[0:57] You would think that an Ethiopian white honey roasted medium, but played a little more like a lighter roast, was going to be amazing. It wasn't.

[1:17] And I just kept coming back to myself — not this again. I keep talking and preaching about coffee, that you can conquer any issue if you just change a variable or two. But something about this coffee just didn't work out for me.

[1:41] One thing I did notice when I was actually brewing this cup of coffee was a slow drawdown. Extremely slow. I was thinking about every way to speed it up — faster filter, coarser grind. When I did that and tasted the coffee, it didn't get any better. It actually got worse.

[2:16] And I just kept going down that rabbit hole because of my routine. My routine is everything. Two pours, 30 seconds bloom for medium roast, one minute for darker roast. Two pulses. Done in less than two minutes, two and a half at most. I know my process. But something about this coffee was just not working.

[3:01] And then I started thinking about it a little more. This coffee presents itself in a way I'm not used to. I should have just let the coffee be. But the key thing is that I was observant — I was observant about how the drawdown was happening.

[3:29] I started to wonder: is coffee kind of like meat? What I mean by that is we don't cook everything the same way depending on the application. A steak gets to 135 degrees Fahrenheit and you're done. But a brisket needs six to thirteen hours of cooking, then another half day to a full day of rest to really be nice and tender.

[4:17] I never really thought about that too much with coffee. You roast it or you get it, you enjoy it, and you kind of just let it be what it is. But all coffees are different. They can all be presented differently.

[4:36] And when I started to think about it more, it started to make sense. Not that I need to make sense of everything in order to get it — there are going to be times you just don't. And I didn't fully get it with this particular situation either. What I mean is: it's a slow drawdown, so don't fight it.

[5:03] Why is it a slow drawdown? Is it a light roast? Is it Ethiopian? Is it white honey — meaning some of the mucilage is still on the coffee? Those were key indicators. Things I'll now draw from when approaching a coffee like this. Because those details tell you how to really approach the brew.

[5:40] Here's the thing. I was so stuck on my routine — that the coffee had to be done in less than two to two and a half minutes — that I didn't realize this coffee probably needed to be ground finer. If I had ground it finer, it wouldn't have presented bitter notes. The acidity would have shined a little more. The chocolate notes, the sweetness would have come in just enough.

[6:01] And that's exactly what happened. I took my blinders off. I got my reps in with the coffee, and I just let it be.

[6:20] My brews started averaging three to five minutes. I even went a little crazy once — put a metal filter in, then dropped a Hario V60 slow filter inside of it, and ground as fine as reasonably possible. That brew took about five minutes. I was nervous but excited.

[7:09] The coffee held up. It was juicy, more lively. Something I could drink again and again. And I knew I was onto something. I stopped worrying about the time — the same routine that had gotten me frustrated in the first place.

[7:39] A couple of brews later, I didn't go crazy with the double filter setup again. But the coffee just took its time to brew, and I wasn't worried about that anymore. Because every time I drank it after that, the coffee was lively. Tasty. Something I wanted to drink.

[8:04] And it got me thinking about my whole routine, my whole thought process. A lot of times I push the coffee into my routine instead of letting the coffee talk to me and tell me how to treat it.

[8:31] See, that's the thing. We have gadgets. We have tools to bring the best out of coffee. But when we're less observant, we just put everything around our own routines. Nine times out of ten, your routine is probably right. But we have to take into consideration what we're actually dealing with.

[9:02] We have to see what the coffee is telling us. If we do that, and we stay focused and grounded in our approach, that fills our toolbox. That gets us to a place where we can really enjoy the coffee. And that's really what it comes down to.

[9:43] Those are the key takeaways. If you're frustrated with your coffee — if it's just not working — step back. Look at the coffee. Smell it. Watch how it actually draws down. Don't look at a slow drawdown as a limiting factor. Realize that a brew that takes longer than expected doesn't mean it's going to be bad.

[10:09] In this case, it worked out just fine. That slow drawdown, the way the coffee had time to do its thing — that's what made it magical. That's what made it special.

[10:32] As I sit here and think about everything I went through that week trying to get there with this coffee, these are the biggest takeaways: let the coffee be the star. We can't forget that. If it wants to be brewed differently than what we're accustomed to, let it be. Because you might be surprised at how awesome and magical it can be on the other side.

[11:09] Let me know what you think. Do you have this issue sometimes when you're drinking coffee? Have you ever just thrown everything aside and said forget it, I'm going to let it do what it does — and those turned out to be some of the most magical cups because you got out of your own way?

[11:34] Something about coffee is mesmerizing to me. It's about life, quite a bit — but something about it just talking to us, being present, understanding it for what it is, and picking up on the little subtleties. That's where the magic is with all of this.

[12:07] Just let coffee do its thing. More than likely, it'll surprise you. Not your routine. Let's break that. Talk to you later.