How Edmond Brews a Competition Geisha on the Femobook A68 and A4Z
Edmond, a Brewer's Cup competitor who competes in the Netherlands, was still refining the dose and grind for his competition coffee when he set the Femobook A68 and the A4Z side by side. Using the same Geisha on both, he walked through how each grinder changed the cup.
The coffee he competes with
The coffee is a Geisha from Volcán Azul in Costa Rica, anaerobic natural. Edmond reads grapefruit and a sparkling acidity, with a restrained funk. The character, he says, leans toward white wine.
For competition he does not use it alone. It sits on top of a washed Panama Geisha, which provides a base of honey and nectar with a jammy mouthfeel, while the Volcán Azul is layered over it to raise the acidity.
Grinding for clarity
Edmond's priority is clarity, a cup in which each flavor stays clean and distinct. Much of that depends on the grinder's behavior. Both machines operate automatically, with no hand grinding, which he values in the morning and for the energy it saves. The low rotation speed also matters, since a slower grind generates less heat and better preserves the coffee's flavors.
Fines are the second factor he weighs. Allowed to collect at the base of the bed, they compromise a brew, so a grinder that produces few of them removes a source of inconsistency. At his 15 gram competition dose, little accumulates inside the burr. This is where the burr itself matters. The A4Z carries the ZP6 burr, which he credits for the clean, well-separated flavors he is after.
The recipe and the pour
His core numbers hold steady: 15 grams of coffee to 250cc of water, a ratio he gives as 1:16.6, water at 92°C, and a brew time near 2:20 to 2:30. For Edmond the recipe is defined less by the ratio than by what each pour does to the bed.
He begins with a bloom and continues in even pours, swirling after each addition. The swirl serves two functions. It raises extraction and keeps the bed saturated, and it draws the fines to the wall so fewer settle at the base. He pours in an oval rather than a circle, and he does not hold the water temperature constant, on the reasoning that the later pours are where astringency tends to develop.
On the A68 the pour is a 40cc bloom followed by three pours of 70cc to reach 250. He favors the longer extraction that filter allows, since the added time draws more from the coffee while the cup remains light, an effect he attributes to the dose and ratio.
Drippers and servers
Edmond treats equipment as part of the recipe. One brew runs through a flower dripper, released this year, a trapezoid form with more modern styling. Against the V60, the Deep 27 and other drippers, he finds it produces more complexity. He decants into an Origami server, chosen for the vortex at its base, and swirls four times before serving.
Grinding on the A68
Edmond relies on the A68 for selecting beans, using it through repeated cupping in the run-up to competition, and describes it as reliable. For this coffee he sets it slightly coarser than the A4Z, since it produces marginally more fines, though he notes the quantity remains very low. When he wants maximum clarity he grinds coarser than the suggested setting and lets the swirling manage the fines. In the cup the A68 reads as fuller and denser, with a wine-like body that stays mellow and grows smoother as it cools.
Grinding on the A4Z
The A4Z behaves differently. Its grind is clean enough that the brew runs faster, which is the variable Edmond monitors most closely. If it runs too fast the cup under-extracts, so he ensures sufficient contact time with the water. He also cautions against grinding too fine on this model, which can leave a dry edge. Within those limits he finds it highly consistent from brew to brew. The cup it yields is more floral, with sparkling acidity and clear definition.
A68 and A4Z at a glance
| Feature | Femobook A68 | Femobook A4Z |
|---|---|---|
| Grind guidance for coffee | Slightly coarser | Avoid grinding too fine |
| Fines | Marginally more, still very low | Very clean, fewer fine |
| Cup character, same coffee | same coffeeFuller, denser, wine-like body, mellow, smoother as it cools | Floral, sparkling acidity, clearly defined |
The parameters above serve as a reference. Readers can adjust them to suit their own brewing conditions.
Maintenance
Compared with commercial grinders, which in his experience require frequent cleaning, both Femobook models demand little. Edmond cleans them roughly twice a year, a consequence of the same low fines that shape the cup, since less dust inside means less upkeep. He does not clean on a weekly schedule, judging the grinder good enough not to require it, and makes an exception only before showcasing an especially expensive coffee. He also notes how easily the unit disassembles, opening to reveal its structure and allow direct access to the settings, which he reads as a sign of who Femobook designed the A68 for.
