So I have the Italian side of the family visiting for Christmas. They run a bar in Italy and brought me a few 1kg bags of Kimbo beans made for bar use.

The roast date on the bag shows 10/30/13, and the use by date was out in 4/30/15! I was pretty convinced that it would make bad espresso, as I opened it on 12/27, but I was pleasantly surprised! I was using Caffe D'arte Capri, no more than 2 weeks post roast, and when I switched to the Kimbo, I only had to adjust slightly finer to get a good pour. The resulting pours have been consistently excellent, with great, full bodied flavor and thick Crema. For my taste, it's better than anything I have ordered fresh roasted here in the US. The family tells me that my pours are as good as anything they are pulling in their bar. I opened the bag a week ago, and the pours haven't changed a bit, so there is no "fast aging" effect. So, my main question is... why does it work so well? It should have acted like stale coffee, but it doesn't! While I truly doubt it would work as well up to the date they state, it has lasted longer than the 20-30 days recommended by most on HB.

The family says that they normally use 5kg cans that are fully sealed with some gas inside instead of air, so what they are using (packaging wise) is slightly different than what they brought, but the effect seems to be the same. They say they have to wait 10 mins after opening the can before the beans can be used, or the result tastes bad.

Any thoughts???

Jim

My vote would be for: More Robusta in the blend.

Perhaps your palate appreciates softer shots rather than brighter ones?

TomC wrote: Perhaps your palate appreciates softer shots rather than brighter ones?

I would certainly agree with this, I'm not a fan of fruit bombs. The flavor is far from boring, though. It has a lot of complexity and a sweeter and slightly fruitier taste than the Capri.

Bob_McBob wrote:Thoughts on an Italian Espresso Blend

That was a great thread, thanks. It's a few years old, I wonder if Jim ever followed up with the blend he suggested?

Kimbo has a premium blend too that they are going to send me. I'm really curious now! When I lived in Italy, I didn't have the equipment to make use of the local blends. Now I have the equipment, but its harder to get the beans...

I did just notice a mistake with the picture I posted. The blend I have now is "Delicious Taste" It shows up as available in Italy only.



Jim

Bob_McBob wrote:Thoughts on an Italian Espresso Blend

Thank you very much for bumping this. I had long forgot about it. Solid stuff there.

The sweet/fruity flavour is probably ferment and robusta. If that's what you like, more power to you.

aerojrp wrote:I did just notice a mistake with the picture I posted. The blend I have now is "Delicious Taste" It shows up as available in Italy only.

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Jim

Too bad that. I was given a moka pot and a bag of KIMBO in a white bag preground in 1991 and I'm still crazy about espresso 22 years later. So I ordered a bag of the "Extra Cream" to try some KIMBO again. I see now that your comments pertain to a different one of their blends. Hopefully within a week or so I'll have some comments of my own to woffer. I'm drinking Velton's Bonsai Blend and Old Soul The Sauce espresso this week and I suspect the KIMBO will be quite a departure from those fruit forward and deliciously sweet blends.

Bob_McBob wrote:Thoughts on an Italian Espresso Blend

So much kick ass there.

The bag arrived promptly, roasted Sept 2013 and marked good until March 2015.

Oily sheen on the beans, which I promptly divided into 150 gram lots for jars and resealed bags and into the freezer except for an amount to share with two local friends who like the dark roast espresso.

I can verify that right out of the bag crema is abundant. I followed the parameters printed on the bag : warm cup * 7 grams/shot * 90-95C * 25 - 30 sec * 25-35 mL. Well almost, I went with a more ristretto yield.

Those oily beans really ride the static electricity out of the Vario and clump clump clump.

I enjoy the bitter, resiny, sweet taste and creamy thick mouthfeel of the shot as a departure from my typical espresso selection. Of the two shots I had today one accentuated the creamy with less bitter, the second had too much bitter.

Of this coffee, if the crema creation holds over time due to my storage methods, then I will enjoy how these shots meld with milk. It was a pleasure to pour a latte with this espresso.

The missus accepted the two latte I poured today, saying that with her cold it doesn't matter much what coffee I choose.