What I learned brewing through a kilo of Flour Mill Blend from Headlands Coffee
*It’s actually been over a month now 😅
1 kg of coffee is a lot for me.
That’s coz I brew small doses: 7g for espresso, 12g for filter. To me 15g (a popular/ usual cafe dose for pour over) is a big serve.
When I bought a kilo of Flour Mill, it practically became a housemate and I got to know it quite well. I even found a new level of appreciation for it – it’s the reason I’m writing this post.
I Pull 7g Shots
You can’t go wrong with a bag of Flour Mill.
I touted this line for ages but I had never actually brewed much of or any of it.
At home I pull espressos (spros) on a La Pavoni Professional. It’s a lever machine – an example of which James Bond pulled a watery shot on once.
It ships with a single dose basket that I load up with 7-7.5g coffee.
At this dose, 1kg bag yields 133 – 142 espressos for me. Or ~5 espressos/ 3 pour overs every day for a month.
Spros and Pour Overs
I actually don’t consume that much coffee – a serving total of 1-2 cups a day during the work week.
At the time of this post, I have espresso-ed and pour over-ed my way through half the 1kg bag.
And you know what? It kept getting better. I more time I spent with it, the more better-er it got. Flour Mill is good. Like really good.
I was right to tout.
But how I viewed Flour Mill also changed.
What Changed?
Pre my 1kg days, I recommended Flour Mill for espresso and milk-based coffees but I was reserved about it as a filter.
Technically you can brew this coffee as a filter – it’s a omni/medium roast: halfway between filter and espresso. But is brewing it as a filter a good idea?
In my experience, espresso/milk blends make poor pour overs. They usually turn out a little disfigured, tasting like the coffee doesn’t fit the recipe.
Takumi (owner & head roaster of Headlands) actually suggested competing with Flour Mill as a filter coffee. In fact, it was his first suggestion.
That level of confidence stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t think it would be anyone’s (including Takumi’s) first choice for a filter coffee comp.
But after brewing Flour Mill as a daily pour over over the last month, I’ve come to appreciate it on a whole new level as a filter coffee.
It’s well-structured and aromatic. I found the taste notes of cinnamon, cocoa and strawberry milk to be quite accurate (to my palate), becoming clearer and more defined as the coffee aged.
A blend is composed of different coffees – so naturally a scoop will contain a random distribution of beans that make it up. Sometimes the distribution is skewed and you end up with more of some beans than others in your scoop. That might translate to a particular taste note having a greater presence in cup.
In Flour Mill, my favourite is hitting a cinnamon pocket. It’s delightful – yielding a cup profile with a clear cinnamon note as an espresso or pour over.
Preferred Recipes
Filter
Setup
Cafec Flower Dripper + Hario Drip Assist
12g @ 27 clicks Comandante
192g water @ 100°C (1:16 ratio)
Recipe
Let each pour drain completely before starting next pour
Bloom – pour 28g without Drip Assist
Second pour – pour 45g without Drip Assist
Third pour – pour 45g with Drip Assist
Fourth pour – pour 74g with Drip Assist
Serve
Origami Pinot to highlight spice notes and cocoa
Turkish tea cup – best for cinnamon notes; highlights aroma, sweetness and presents with high clarity.
Espresso
Setup
La Pavoni Professional
7.2g @ 8.9 on Apollo
Recipe
Pull shot soon after boiler pressure is stable – do not preheat group head or portafilter
Lift lever to just before water flow
Lock in portafilter and lift lever to start shot
Pre-infusion – allow for first drips
Pull shot (start) – pull lever to start flow
If coffee continues to drip and flow does not start, go 1 x Fellini then continue with the rest of the shot
Mid shot – maintain flow
Vary lever pressure to maintain flow rate
End shot – hold lever down until pressure ends
Serve
Turkish tea cup – highlights aroma, sweetness and presents with high clarity
On the Hunt
After daily brewing for a month now, I can say that Flour Mill sits comfortably in the company of coffees that I would reach for as staple espressos/ pour overs/ daily drivers. And if I really wanted to, I’d have no issues* making a milk coffee out of it.
That’s pretty damn good.
But how many others are out there?
I’m on the hunt and I’ll be reporting back the results.
If you’ve got a suggestion, hit me up on Instagram, TikTok or send me a email:
shu@brewmanshu.com
*I mean the only issue with me making milk coffee is steaming on a La Pavoni. Tis a challenge yes indeed with its modest steaming powers and my modest steaming powers.
No Pomp at the Comp
⏪ Rewind
I had originally bought my 1kg Flour Mill blend to use as a competition coffee. It was a casual comp (shout out Spro Bros Breaking Bread 26.0) and I had a zany idea for a comp recipe. But at the last minute, I changed my mind and used another Headlands blend instead.
If you’ve not been to a Breading Bread event, I highly recommend it. Follow Spro Bros on Instagram and keep an eye out on their Eventbrite for upcoming events.
I’ll even link their website so you can check out some merch: https://sprobros.co/
Special thanks to Priscilla for the pics!
brewmanshu 
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