Here are some of our frequently asked questions revolving around Abide Culture: from brewing to grinding, gear, Abide Hollow Apiary, and who we are as a family; possibly some off-topic questions in the mix. Wax poetic.
Trust the process; enjoy the journey. Stay Humble. Abide.
What is Abide Culture?
Our name is derived from John chapter 15 verse 9: “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love.” Abide in the love of Christ.
Due to your name and what it is derived from: you are Christians, correct?
Due to your name and what it is derived from: you are Christians, correct?
Correct.
Are you an apologist?Every true, born again Christian, should be an active apologist.
What is an apologist?An apologist—in the simplest definition—is someone that defends their faith.
Are your coffee offerings organic?Yes. We have had to drop farms and regions due to the unavailability of organic offerings.
What is a coffee note?A coffee note is how we identify what a coffee tastes like depending on the profile and mouthfeel of the roast. There are no flavors added to our coffee offerings. The art of roast brings out individual flavors — notes — which helps us describe the coffee to you.
How do you taste coffee notes?Simple: eat. Eat food. Eat real food. Your taste experience will flood your mouth. If I were to ask you, "what does a raspberry taste like?", your answer can and will come back with a plethora of examples depending if you like raspberries or not. Coffee cupping is subjective. What we taste versus what you taste. The more complex the coffee will have more notes to describe an individual's tongue opinion on the offering. 'Blue Raspberry Jolly Rancher'—which may sound super rad—is not a note.
What is a profile?A profile is the roasting road map created, and used, by the head roaster. Many factors build the roasting profile which the roaster uses — [heat][time][airflow] — to bring a unique taste experience. The profile is then triangle tested and cupped.
What is cupping?Cupping is the act of smelling and tasting coffee to evaluate aromas and flavors which are then noted and recorded for later uses to describe the roast profile.
What is triangle testing?Triangle testing is simply evaluating noticeable differences with three samples: two identical and one different. This helps with consistency.
What is a coffee bloom?A coffee bloom is the occurrence of coffee "blooming" on the initial pour of manual brewers when hot water wets the coffee and trapped carbon dioxide [CO₂] is rapidly released causing the coffee to expand.
Does a coffee bloom actually indicate the freshness of roasted coffee?With all the information found online and word-of-mouth, we here at Abide Culture can tell you, using science; ok, through testing: with a resounding . . . "yes" and "no". How's that for a slice of fried gold? With our own two week testing by strictly using the pour over method—brewer: Beehouse—and everyday from off roast to day fourteen: there were some instances where the bloom expanded and some instances where it just sat flat.
What is the difference between a single origin and a blend?Simply put: a single origin means an offering comes from a single location whereas a blend is an offering that has more that one single origin mixed together for a new offering.
What is Swiss Water Process [SWP]?
SWP is the process to decaffeinate coffee by using water in small batches which drops the caffeine level from 100% to 0.01% leaving the coffee 99.9% caffeine free and allows organic coffee to remain organic.
source: Swiss Water Process
What is the difference between microlot and a CO-OP?
We do what we can to keep our honey as organic as possible in the practices that we keep our apiary in. Bees need a large foraging range for pollen and nectar collection. With bees being able to travel long distances, we don't know what plants they are visiting beside ours. Organic honey is honey that has been sourced from hives without the use of chemicals found in sugars, the wood or material used to make the bee boxen; plants free from synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.
Is Abide Hollow Apiary honey raw?What is the difference between microlot and a CO-OP?
A microlot can be used to describe a single harvest or a single farm. A CO-OP is comprised of community-based coffee farms.
Do your coffee offerings have mycotoxins [mold]?This is not a simple answer: Mycotoxins are everywhere which makes it impossible to completely avoid. Trace amounts of mycotoxins are found in coffee beans and other consumables [ie: peanut butter, chocolate, grain, etc.] Roasting coffee kills molds that produce mycotoxins.
What is the best way to store coffee?An airtight container is ideal on the counter or in a pantry.
Should I put my coffee in the refrigerator or freezer to extend the shelf life?Please don't. Just don't. Putting coffee in the refrigerator or freezer actually exacerbates the coffee. Coffee is water soluble and once water and coffee touch: extraction begins. SCIENCE! Frozen coffee will thaw and moisture will escape. Extraction.
What is the difference between a Ristretto, a Doppio, and a Lungo?
Dosing and extraction. But not to put a too fine of a point on it:
A Ristretto is a restricted water flow and shorter pull. Sweeter.
A Doppio is a double espresso shot. More balanced.
A Lungo is a longer pull. Weaker.
What is a 'Short Black'?A Ristretto is a restricted water flow and shorter pull. Sweeter.
A Doppio is a double espresso shot. More balanced.
A Lungo is a longer pull. Weaker.
Simple: a Short Black is roughly 30 milliliters of espresso. A single shot of espresso is 30 milliliters. So, therefore, a Short Black and a single shot of espresso are the same thing.
So then, what is a 'Long Black'?A Long Black is an espresso drink that uses about 4 ounces of water and a double short black. The Short Black's crema needs to remain intact when placed upon the surface of the water. Basically, the Short Black is elongated by the water and preserves the espresso's crema.
So a Long Black is just a smaller version of an Americano?No. In reality: It's all about that sweet, tasty, golden crema. And ratios. But most importantly: the crema.
Dah! Riddle me this: what is crema?Glad you asked. Crema is the foam layer that is built on top of the body of an espresso shot—that silky smoothness—which is created by the pre-infusion and high pressure of an espresso machine. It consists of oils and tiny bubble of carbon dioxide [CO₂] which dissolve and emulsifies.
Then what is an Americano?An Americano is espresso with water. A traditional Americano is espresso with hot water poured upon the espresso whereas non-traditional Americano is hot water with espresso rolled on top of the water. An iced Americano is iced water with espresso rolled on top of the water.
Where did the Americano originate?There is some back-and-forth on this. The story states that back in World War II, American troops that were stationed in Italy didn't like Italian coffee: it was too strong because it was espresso and the Americans preferred drip. To make the coffee more pleasant, hot water and espresso were mixed together and, voilà, the Americano was born.
What is the difference between an espresso roast and a regular roast?Short answer: nothing. Long answer: all roasts can be used in an espresso machine because it comes down to preference. 'Espresso Roast' is a marketing ploy just like those handy-dandy coffee icons that shout, "best for [place preferred icon here]." It comes down to you; yes, you. Your tongue palette and taste experience are what will guide your partiality. Along with triangle testing and cupping, we here at Abide Culture run our offerings through multiple brewers including espresso, pour over, syphon, and drip. A lighter roast Guatemala can taste amazing from a pulled shot depending on how well your espresso machine is dialed in per your grinder.
What is the Salami Shot?A Salami Shot is a technique of testing and tasting an espresso shot by 'slicing' the shot into segments: hence the name. This technique can be used to dial in a machine, test the extraction of the espresso, and teach what espresso shots should taste like. It can vary vastly on who is teaching and what outcome is being evaluated. The shot can either be sliced into 4 to 7 increments and pulled into corresponding cups: first cut to final cut. Each cup is then evaluated for taste, complexity, acidity, bitterness, and sweetness. Depending on your cutting technique will dictate your cut time.
Is Abide Hollow Apiary honey organic?We do what we can to keep our honey as organic as possible in the practices that we keep our apiary in. Bees need a large foraging range for pollen and nectar collection. With bees being able to travel long distances, we don't know what plants they are visiting beside ours. Organic honey is honey that has been sourced from hives without the use of chemicals found in sugars, the wood or material used to make the bee boxen; plants free from synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.
Yes. Raw honey is honey that comes straight from the hive as it exists inside the hive. We double sieve the impurities [ie: dead bees, larger beeswax matter, etc.] from the flow. We sometimes—depending on the wax amount—will perform a secondary double sieve. We keep our honey raw by not pasteurizing or filtering the honey. Pasteurization is a process of applying high heat that destroys a variety of nutrients found in raw honey. Filtering honey uses applied heat and cold to reduce the honey viscosity for easier filtering.
Who's on first?Yes.
What is the answer to the ultimate question?42. Oddly enough, no one knows what the ultimate question is but the answer has been calculated by Deep Thought. Also, the signifance of the number 42 is the number of the spider—from Earth-42—that bit Miles Morales; it is also Jackie Robinson's number that has been permanently retired across Major League Baseball. But most importantly, the Gospel of Matthew outlines 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus Christ.