Blue Sky Espresso - 49th Parallel

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
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Spitz.me
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#1: Post by Spitz.me »

Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone has tried the Blue Sky Espresso offered by 49th Parallel. Today was the first day I learned about it, as I found myself in Dark Horse Espresso on Spadina to pick up some Old School or Epic Espresso.

They only had Old School on 'tap' and it was mighty delicious. I was frustrated to find that their Old School was 12 days post roast. So, scratch that. I just happened upon the Blue Sky bag. I know I've seen a few threads asking about artisan roasted Italian style espresso roasts. Well, the Blue Sky is described as a blend for people looking for a distinct southern Italian profile.

If you haven't tried it yet, then this is your FYI post. I consider 49th to be a top-tier roaster and have mostly positive memories of my Epic Espresso drinking days.

I was happy when they came out with Old School since I like the old style comfort blends. Now I'm excited to try their take on an even 'older school' blend.

I'll let you know what I find!
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dtyson
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#2: Post by dtyson »

Looking forward to hearing about it!

Last time I was in one of their cafes in Vancouver to purchase Epic and Old School, neither were stocked, in order to to direct (force) people to their SO line of beans, which I bought (a Honduran and a Nicaraguan?). Not terribly impressed and neither are offered online at this time. Transcend and Phil and Sebastian offer far more appealing, even with the extra $$. If you're into the lighter roast, that is.

More to the roast profile you've mentioned, I'm chewing thru some Redbird Brazil Sweet Blue, with the Blue Jag and Espresso blend on deck. As others have posted, he does a great job at the "old style" comfy blend without getting into the common ash and smoke extravaganza that lesser roasters often settle for. Very nice. If you ever find yourself in Niagara Falls, you can avoid the ridiculous UPS charges/experience. Good value.

It will be interesting to hear how the Blue Sky fits in with the Epic and Old School.

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nickw
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#3: Post by nickw »

Bly Sky Espresso? I regularly buy from 49th and visit their cafes, I haven't heard of it. Nor is it listed on their site.
Do you mean their blue bag coffee?

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Bob_McBob
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#4: Post by Bob_McBob »

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0058/ ... beebea.pdf
Intense, low acidity, with rich cocoa flavour.

Blue Sky Espresso consists of our current, in season coffees. This means in the summer to early winter, you'll have sweet, clean and balanced coffees from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Kenya, and Ethiopia. In the winter through the spring, you'll have southern hemisphere coffee represented - From Peru in South America, and as far away as Indonesia.
I've never heard of this before, but it's apparently been available since at least January 2014. They've never had it listed for sale on their site.
Chris

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Spitz.me (original poster)
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#5: Post by Spitz.me (original poster) »

Yes, thanks Chris, it's definitely named right. It's a blend in the same spirit as Analog from Intelly. The difference? Blue Sky is easy to pull and doesn't NEED milk to shine. My experience with Analog is that it's never an easy to drink blend and this is exacerbated by its high sensitivty to temperature. Too high and it's unbearable. The Blue Sky never really fell apart for me.

It shines as a triple ristretto pulled cool. The best way I can describe this blend is that it is the best part of an Italian blend and lacks all the negative aspects that keep people from drinking Italian blends. So, you get the big, thick syrupy liquid with tons of dark chocolate and a hint of a smoky bitterness. Whereas, I sometimes get overwhelmed by the bitterness and robusta flavours in the big boy Italian blends. It's fantastic in milk, but it is equally fantastic as a shot. Seriously, a great job with this blend. It's a must try for Italian espresso lovers.

I've never had Red Bird and imagine that Blue Sky may be similar. It's a great blend and I would definitely buy it again. I was nervous about buying one pound of an homage to Italian espresso because of my experience with Analog Espresso, but this turned out to be the best I've had from an artisan roaster.
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canuckcoffeeguy
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#6: Post by canuckcoffeeguy »

Hey Tony, first time I've heard of this blend from 49th. Thanks for the heads up. Any idea if Dark Horse will stock it weekly?

As for Sweet Blue and Blue Jaguar, I like them both. I had blue jaguar from Redbird and sweet blue from idrinkcoffee.

Currently going through a bag of Ace espresso from Propeller/Crema Coffee Co. Liking it as well.

Btw, anyone notice that black cat classic tastes different now? Got a bag from Manic recently and it was very different from what I remember a couple of years ago. More chocolate and nut, very creamy, with some subtle grape, as opposed to the much fruitier/acidic blend I remembered. I like both.

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JmanEspresso
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#7: Post by JmanEspresso »

canuckcoffeeguy wrote:Hey Tony, first time I've heard of this blend from 49th. Thanks for the heads up. Any idea if Dark Horse will stock it weekly?

As for Sweet Blue and Blue Jaguar, I like them both. I had blue jaguar from Redbird and sweet blue from idrinkcoffee.

Currently going through a bag of Ace espresso from Propeller/Crema Coffee Co. Liking it as well.

Btw, anyone notice that black cat classic tastes different now? Got a bag from Manic recently and it was very different from what I remember a couple of years ago. More chocolate and nut, very creamy, with some subtle grape, as opposed to the much fruitier/acidic blend I remembered. I like both.
Thats promising.. Back in the day I loved black cat. I think everyone did, it was pretty much THE espresso blend. Even if you liked variety, you still probably drank a lot of Black Cat. Then it went rogue and turned into a super bright blend, which a lot of people didnt like, and ever since it seems, by the descriptions of the blend on their site, they've been trying to bring it back to its old school flavor, using new school coffees. Ive had it a few times in recent year(s), and been pretty dissapointed each time.. to the point that Intelligentsia has been a brewing only roaster for me for a while. But what you're saying makes me want to give it yet another attempt.

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canuckcoffeeguy
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#8: Post by canuckcoffeeguy replying to JmanEspresso »

Yeah I would give it another shot. Although, I don't know what it was like back in the day. My first time trying was about two years ago, when I remember it being brighter and fruitier. This thread also seems to indicate BC classic may have changed recently to a more balanced blend.
My thoughts on Black Cat Classic Espresso

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Spitz.me (original poster)
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#9: Post by Spitz.me (original poster) »

JmanEspresso wrote:Thats promising.. Back in the day I loved black cat. I think everyone did, it was pretty much THE espresso blend. Even if you liked variety, you still probably drank a lot of Black Cat. Then it went rogue and turned into a super bright blend, which a lot of people didnt like, and ever since it seems, by the descriptions of the blend on their site, they've been trying to bring it back to its old school flavor, using new school coffees. Ive had it a few times in recent year(s), and been pretty dissapointed each time.. to the point that Intelligentsia has been a brewing only roaster for me for a while. But what you're saying makes me want to give it yet another attempt.
Give it another spin. It's my go-to comfort blend. I never really thought about it, but yes it is fairly different. It's a great daily sipper.
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mixedup
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#10: Post by mixedup »

I picked up a bag of BC in Chicago back in the fall. It was my first time having it in a really long time and I really enjoyed it. Have had plans to pick some up at Manic....but keep forgetting when I'm in the area!

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