Was down at Barefoot today picking up a few lbs. of The Boss, and saw the Papua New Guinea Tribal Aromas coffee. The description (right here) was intriguing, anyone try this as an SO yet? If so, brewing recommendations? (Otherwise, or in any event, I'll post my own as well.)

Oh, and BTW, the last couple of pounds of The Boss I've had have been the best in a while!

That just doesn't seem like a great name for a coffee. I'm thinking that the tribal feet do not have such a wonderful aroma.

LOL... Indeed. And it proved darned stubborn this morning. I lay my blind exploration bare for all to see...

Day 1 Notes:

- Start off at 9 on grinder and level dose, temp at 200 even.

- Crema of first shot is right there, banana cream pie hints and very good just as per the description but then off to something burnt woody and bitter/uninteresting after the first sips of crema. Perhaps doesn't like to be overextracted? Pulls tons of crema, overflowing the cup compared to previous coffee (Sidamo Dare from Verve), but much too fast. (Oh, and these beans are 5 days out of roast, so shouldn't be an overly fresh issue on the crema volume.)

- Second shot, tighten grind substantially and pull shorter, to 1.8 oz, still fast, but shot is better, sweeter for longer after crema dissipation but not all the way, going to keep going in this direction.

- Third shot, now overdosing substantially rather than just barely over level, and now pulled to 1.5 oz in 20 secs (still fast but better...), now getting more sweetness and fruity tastes after crema is dissipating (or sipped off) but with a bit of loss of the banana and creaminess I had at the beginning and also still mixed with a burnt woody taste I just don't like. Don't know whether to try upping the temp to bring out sweetness or drop it to get rid of burnt taste, guess I'll try both ways...

- Toss most of shot 1 in the sink, remainders of shots 2 and 3 into a sugar and creamy americano for Heidi and this has kicked me in the side of the head, might be a bit of caffeine in this bean, will wait a bit before brewing any more.

Very interesting initial revelation on this one, esp. in the first two, faster pulls, the crema of the shot tasted sweeter and creamy and interesting and then it faded rapidly off into the distance such that 15 seconds after the pull, it tasted completely different (and not as good by far).

Two hours later:

- Shot #4 - Tightened up the grind a bit more and upped temp by half a degree to 200.5, shot pulled a bit short now, but darn it, definitively burnt and bitter tasting. Perhaps too hot...?

- Shots #5 and #6: Lower temp by a degree to 199.5 or so and dropped dose to compensate for slightly too fine a grind, better/not so burnt taste, but still not ideal, I actually think shot #2 might have been the best. Perhaps this one will be better with a faster pull, or just a coarser grind and I can overstuff the basket to compensate...? Will loosen the grind and leave lower temp and return to this tomorrow.

Well, after going through a whole bag, this is a first - a decent third wave SO I couldn't get anything I liked out of as espresso.

I tried temps from 197 to 204, overdosing, underdosing, loose grind, tight grind, pulls from 15 to 40 seconds, and bupkus. I thought I might be getting somewhere when I got one good and a couple of not bad shots at 203.5, updosed and loose ground, but they were intermittent at best, and more often than not mixed with woody or burnt flavors I didn't particularly care for. Next time I'm at Barefoot, hopefully they'll have some of this brewed on the bar so I can taste what it's like as drip. (Maybe this is one of those that would really demand a different roast for espresso? Roasting people, is it really that different?)

In May I had a Lake Tawar Sumatran from Verve that was actually roasted for espresso, and it was outstanding - I only wish they had more of it, I've asked a few times but I think they must be out. Home espresso drinkers must be pretty rare given the relative paucity in the market of SO espresso roasts. {Prepares and hopes for people to contradict him with many examples to try. }

JimWright wrote: ... Maybe this is one of those that would really demand a different roast for espresso? Roasting people, is it really that different? ...

I think so. Espresso extraction tends to accentuate the brights and the bitters, or high and low flavors of a coffee. You can roast it as usual, then blend it with a Brazil, which is all mellow, middle flavors. Or you can roast it a little slower at the end, to bring out the middle flavors more, and keep it an SO.

we have the tribal aromas on our single origin grinder at bevalo, in SLC.

i am using 19g 201° 1.75oz. 30 seconds, i am using the infamous "jonr10" rigdeless synesso big double basket. i get more banana in the aroma than in the taste. smells like bananas tastes sweet. i like it. everyone seems to enjoy it from shots to caps to lattes, etc. it works good in milk. i really like it. it is going to be coming back soon, we sold 5# of it as espresso, in about 2 days.

jon

Interesting and thanks for responding! The closest I came to that was a couple shots at 200.5, 1.7-18 oz in the mid-20s, on day 2, but that seems pretty darn close, and my results do not sound at all similar. Perhaps I got the rare bad bag, could be finicky, or could be just poor technique on my part, though it was pretty consistently off in flavor across different preps, so maybe it just doesn't agree with me, or ... BTW, how long did you let it rest?

these are roasted july 7 so they are nine days old..still seem a bit young. but i couldnt wait to try it. i get loads of crema and that fresh taste still. i tried a few shots just now and seems to taste a bit nicer at 198° but i need to be a bit hotter for "the boss!" espresso so i settled on 200° for now. i am about out of tribal aromas until i can get some next week. i will definitely let it age longer before i get into it. we usually wait about 10 days out and things settle down as far as crema and flavor. BTW the karindundu from kenya is a pretty nice savory single origin espresso.

jon

Interesting! I started mine on day 4 and basically finished it on day 8 (one shot left on day 9), and I was initially surprised by the crema volume and dissipation but didn't figure it could really still be too young at that stage. Hmmmm....