Through creative blending and innovative processing, Modcup and Black & White have each crafted a coffee that captures the comforting aromas and nostalgic flavors of classic holiday pies.
🍒 Cherry Pie by Modcup
The wild half of the box with four distinctive Colombian coffees, layering juicy red cherries, boozy fruit sweetness, and warming cinnamon over a clean washed Huila base. Featuring experimental lots like Café La Granja XO, Edison Argote's Cinnamon Co-Ferment, and Campo Hermoso's Cherry Cola. We tasted notes of cherry pie, cinnamon, and cocoa nibs. 🔥 Roast: Light 🌎 Origin: Colombia ⚗️ Process: Washed, Natural (XO), Cherry Cola Co-Ferment, Cinnamon Co-Ferment 🔬 Variety: Castillo
🍏 Apple Pie by Black & White
The cozy half of the box, combining five coffees from Kenya, Colombia, and Costa Rica—including Esteban Zamora's Cinnamon Anaerobic, Edwin Noreña's Green Apple Co-Ferment, and a touch of Vanilla Co-Ferment. The result evokes childhood memories of the holiday kitchen, with the warm aromas and comforting flavors of homemade apple pie, fresh from the oven. Expect baked apple, sweet cinnamon, and pastry. 🔥 Roast: Medium-Light 🌎 Origin: Kenya, Colombia, Costa Rica ⚗️ Process: Washed, Natural, Co-Ferment Anaerobic Washed, Cinnamon Co-Ferment, Green Apple Co-Ferment, Vanilla Co-Ferment 🔬 Variety: Various
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Brew Guide for Modcup – Cherry Pie
Note: We recommend resting this coffee for at least 2 weeks. Cherry Pie peaks at 4 weeks and onward.
Why we dialed it like this and other brew thoughts
Series 1 – We kept this shot tight at a 1:2 ratio and pulled it at a lower 192°F so the jammy cherry and warm cinnamon stay sweet and round rather than sharp. A steady 7 bars with no preinfusion or ramp down keeps the profile simple and lets the blend’s dessert-like body come through. For more sweetness and body, grind a touch finer; for more brightness, extend the output a few grams.
Pour Over – A 20g dose at 196°F with a 50g bloom and three circular pours keeps extraction even across this expressive blend. Brew to 320g for a lighter, more tea-like cup that highlights the cherry and spice, or 300g for more body and a richer, pie-like finish. A slightly higher final pour adds agitation to round out extraction. If the cup tastes thin, grind finer; if it tastes heavy or muddy, go a bit coarser.
Aiden – The Aiden profile mirrors the pour over: a 1:16 ratio, a 1:2.5 bloom for 30 seconds, and 196°F throughout, delivered in three pulses. Batch brew allows more time between pulses to account for the deeper coffee bed. Grind coarser as your brew volume increases.
Series 1
You can access this profile in the Fellow Drops folder of your Series 1! To access or edit the profile parameters when it is no longer on your Series 1, use this Series 1 Profile Link.
How to Access:
- Turn on your Series 1 espresso machine
- Navigate to “Profiles” on the touchscreen
- Scroll down and select “Fellow Drops”
- Select “Modcup Cherry Pie”
- Follow the guided workflow to pull your shot
- Enjoy!
Series 1 Profile Parameters:
- Dose: 18.5g
- Output: 37g
- Ratio: 1:2
- Target time: 26 seconds
- Temp: 192°F
- Declining temp: Off
- Transition: Fast
- Grind recommendation: 1.5-2
Preinfusion:
- Off or On: Off
Infusion:
- Duration: 26 seconds
- Pressure: 7 bars
Ramp Down:
- Off or On: Off
Grind Guidance
Start around 1.5 on Opus 2. On other grinders, start in the middle of your espresso range, and Series 1 will tell you to go finer or coarser after your shot pulls. It’s expected that you might need to adjust based on your specific variables (i.e. location, climate, water mineral content, etc.). Small adjustments go a long way!
Tips
- Adjust grind size if your shot pulls too fast (grind finer) or too slow (grind coarser)
- Clean your Series 1 regularly for optimal performance
Pour Over
Settings:
- Dripper: Stagg X / flat bottom drippers
- Dose: 20g
- Water: 320g (more tea-like) or 300g (more body)
- Ratio: 1:16 (320g) or 1:15 (300g)
- Temperature: 196°F
- Total brew time: 3:30
Recipe:
- Grind coffee using the settings below
- Rinse filter with 196°F water
- Bloom: Circular pour to 50g water, wait 30 seconds
- Circular pour to 150g, swirl when water is about 2cm above the grounds
- Circular pour to 250g
- Final center pour to 320g (or 300g), pouring from a bit higher for more agitation, then swirl
- Target brew time: 3:30
Grind Settings:
- Ode + SSP: 5.2–6.2
- Ode Gen 2: 4.2–5.2
- Opus: 5.2–6.2
- Opus 2: 5.5–6.5
Grind settings are a starting point – every grinder is a little different, so use this as your baseline and adjust to taste.
Aiden
You can access this profile in the Fellow Drops folder of your Aiden! To access or edit the profile parameters when it is no longer on your Aiden, use this Aiden Profile Link.
Single Serve
Settings:
- Ratio: 1:16
- Bloom Ratio: 1:2.5
- Bloom Time: 30 seconds
- Bloom Temperature: 196°F
- Pulse Temperatures: 196°F
- Pulse Count: 3
- Time Between Pulses: 20 seconds
Grind Settings:
- Ode + SSP: 6–8.2
- Ode Gen 2: 5–7.2
- Opus: 6–8.2
- Opus 2: 6–8.5 (Use finer settings for 150–250ml, coarser for larger volumes)
Grind settings are a starting point – every grinder is a little different, so use this as your baseline and adjust to taste.
Batch Brew
Settings:
- Ratio: 1:16
- Bloom Ratio: 1:2.5
- Bloom Time: 30 seconds
- Bloom Temperature: 196°F
- Pulse Temperatures: 196°F
- Pulse Count: 3
- Time Between Pulses: 30 seconds
Grind Settings:
- Ode + SSP: 7–10
- Ode Gen 2: 6–9
- Opus: 7–10
- Opus 2: 7–10 (Use finer settings for 450–750ml, coarser for larger volumes)
Grind settings are a starting point – every grinder is a little different, so use this as your baseline and adjust to taste.
Brew Guide for Black & White - Apple Pie
Note: We recommend resting this coffee for 10–14 days off roast before brewing.
Why we dialed it like this and other brew thoughts
Series 1 – We pulled this one at a 1:2.5 ratio to give the shot a little more room to open up and show off its sweetness without losing body. A gentle 3-bar preinfusion with a 4.5 ml/s fill evenly saturates the puck before a full 9-bar infusion, and declining temp starting at 201°F keeps the back half of the shot nicely tapered. A short ramp down to 6 bars softens the finish. For more body, tighten the ratio toward 1:2; for more brightness, increase the yield but keep the same pull time.
Pour Over – This recipe mirrors the Aiden profile: a 1:16 ratio, a 1:3 bloom for 30 seconds, and three even pours with short pauses in between. If you have a Stagg EKG, you can nudge the temperature down a couple of degrees between pours to mimic Aiden’s declining pulse temperatures - or simply leave your kettle off of your base between pulses to let the temperature decline naturally.
Aiden – A 1:3 bloom at 206°F soaks the bed of grounds thoroughly, then the first pulse jumps to 208°F to push extraction early before stepping down through the following pulses to keep the cup sweet and balanced. Batch brew uses longer pauses between pulses and a slightly warmer final pulse to account for the deeper coffee bed.
Series 1
You can access this profile in the Fellow Drops folder of your Series 1! To access or edit the profile parameters when it is no longer on your Series 1, use this Series 1 Profile Link.
How to Access:
- Turn on your Series 1 espresso machine
- Navigate to “Profiles” on the touchscreen
- Scroll down and select “Fellow Drops”
- Select “Black & White Apple Pie”
- Follow the guided workflow to pull your shot
- Enjoy!
Series 1 Profile Parameters:
- Dose: 18g
- Output: 45g
- Ratio: 1:2.5
- Target time: 30 seconds
- Temp: 201°F
- Declining temp: On
- Transition: Smooth
- Grind recommendation: #2
Preinfusion:
- Off or On: On
- Duration: 5 seconds
- Pressure: 3 bars
- Fill flow rate: 4.5 ml/s
Infusion:
- Duration: 20 seconds
- Pressure: 9 bars
Ramp Down:
- Off or On: On
- Duration: 5 seconds
- End Pressure: 6 bars
Grind Guidance
We dialed this shot in at 1.5 on Opus 2. On other grinders, start in the middle of your espresso range, and Series 1 will tell you to go finer or coarser after your shot pulls. It’s expected that you might need to adjust based on your specific variables (i.e. location, climate, water mineral content, etc.). Small adjustments go a long way!
Tips
- Adjust grind size if your shot pulls too fast (grind finer) or too slow (grind coarser)
- Clean your Series 1 regularly for optimal performance
Pour Over
Settings:
- Dripper: Stagg X
- Dose: 20g
- Water: 320g
- Ratio: 1:16
- Temperature: 206°F
- Total brew time: 3:00–3:15
Recipe:
- Bloom: 60g water, wait 30 seconds
- Pour to 145g by 0:50, then pause
- Pour to 230g by 1:25, then pause
- Pour to 320g by 2:00
- Drawdown complete by 3:00–3:15
Grind Settings:
- Ode + SSP: 4.2–5.2
- Ode Gen 2: 3.2–4.2
- Opus: 4.2–5.2
- Opus 2: 4.5–5.5
Grind settings are a starting point – every grinder is a little different, so use this as your baseline and adjust to taste.
Aiden
You can access this profile in the Fellow Drops folder of your Aiden! To access or edit the profile parameters when it is no longer on your Aiden, use this Aiden Profile Link.
Single Serve
Settings:
- Ratio: 1:16
- Bloom Ratio: 1:3
- Bloom Time: 30 seconds
- Bloom Temperature: 206°F
- Pulse Temperatures: 208°F, 204°F, 200°F
- Pulse Count: 3
- Time Between Pulses: 16 seconds
Grind Settings:
- Ode + SSP: 4–6.2
- Ode Gen 2: 3–5.2
- Opus: 4–6.2
- Opus 2: 4–6.5 (Use finer settings for 150–250ml, coarser for larger volumes)
Grind settings are a starting point – every grinder is a little different, so use this as your baseline and adjust to taste.
Batch Brew
Settings:
- Ratio: 1:16
- Bloom Ratio: 1:3
- Bloom Time: 30 seconds
- Bloom Temperature: 206°F
- Pulse Temperatures: 208°F, 204°F, 202°F
- Pulse Count: 3
- Time Between Pulses: 25 seconds
Grind Settings:
- Ode + SSP: 7–10
- Ode Gen 2: 6–9
- Opus: 7–10
- Opus 2: 7–10 (Use finer settings for 450–750ml, coarser for larger volumes)
Grind settings are a starting point – every grinder is a little different, so use this as your baseline and adjust to taste.
