FRENCH PRESS: 8 – HELL YEAH, I’ll DRINK IT AGAIN!
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Walking through the tourist shops of Old Town Scottsdale in Arizona, I came across a sign in the window reading Native American Coffee & Tea. Since I’d never even heard of any Indigenous coffee roasters, my interest was piqued, so I entered the doors of The Native Art Market. It was primarily a shop full of Native American art and jewelry, but I was there for the coffee, of course.
In the middle of the shop was the display with the coffee. The clerk saw me looking over the bags and started conversing. She told the story about the coffee being roasted on the local reservation. I asked if there was a coffee shop that I could go to associated with the roaster and she said not at this time, but we are planning on opening a restaurant next door. I was a bit disappointed there was not a shop to visit to have the coffee prepared by a barista, but I still bought a couple bags of coffee.
Now back in Pennsylvania, I decided it was time to try the Native American Coffee. I grabbed the bag of the Arrowhead Blend, my French press and trusty coffee grinder, and got started.
The bag states that roast is medium, but upon first looking at the beans I thought they were a bit too dark—more like a dark roast. Though I’m not fond of dark roasts, I was not deterred.
When pouring my first cup of coffee, the aroma was definitely that of a dark roast. The initial taste of the coffee had that burnt dark roast taste that I do not like, bitter and ashy. I shared the coffee with my coworkers, though, and they all applauded and stated how much they liked this coffee compared to other coffees that I have shared in the past. I was puzzled because I did not enjoy the first cup…but when I finished that cup, I realized the problem was not the coffee: it was a User/Loser Error—I had over extracted the coffee.
On my second attempt preparing the Arrowhead Blend with the French press, I made a slight adjustment to a courser grind, but mostly I was just more cognizant of the time that I allowed the coffee to steep. Debts and credits can wait—coffee is more important.
After two minutes, I gave a quick stir to mix, waited another minute, then gave the coffee another quick stir and pressed down of the plunger. Upon pouring out the property timed French pressed coffee, I found a completely different coffee. The acrid dark roast smell was still present, but not overpowering as it was in the over extracted cup. The taste this time was not bitter at all. The mouthfeel was a bit thicker than I generally drink, but the beans themselves are darker and oilier. The taste was a lot smoother and gentler than that first cup. Soon enough, I was thoroughly enjoying the coffee—but my coworkers liked the coffee even more.
Throughout the week as I finished up the bag, I gave less and less coffee to my coworkers and drank more for myself.
The primary negative about the Arrowhead Blend is that it’s prone to overextraction. I generally get the French press steeping as I go back to work. I had several other coffees in which my 5-minute steep window was not followed exactly to the minute, but I still got decent or good cup of coffee anyway. Guess I need to learn from my mistakes and be careful with timing to avoid overextraction. Still, I believe the coffee should be marked as a dark roast, not a medium, or at least a medium to dark roast.
So after starting to enjoy this coffee throughout the week and hearing all the immediate positive feedback from my coworkers, I would rank the Arrowhead Blend as definitely buy-again, and I highly recommend anyone to give it a try! Just be sure not to steep it too long. Overall, it is a decent cup of (darkish) medium roast, plus it’s roasted on the reservation and benefits Indigenous Americans. That’s a winner all around.
—Joe from pegritzandjoedrinkcoffee.com.
Pegritz and Joe Drink Coffee 
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