Took advantage of Tony's recent Mamma Mia special and included Black Hand

The reference to Sicily had always shied me a little, but hey, gotta take a risk.

This coffee is astounding.
~8.5g ~200°F ~8.5bar ~25ml ~35s -> cinnamon, citrus, with a long lingering not-quite-milk-chocolate mocha after taste.

Definitely on the short list.

EDIT : I forgot to mention that it's one of the best drip coffees we've sampled in very long time.

Ran out of Black Hand today

The missus is threatening legal action "But it maybe the best coffee we've had in the last year"
Hope she likes Flossie's...

Lucky me. The missus likes Caffe Fresco Flossie's Blend

Ian, that's quite an endorsement.
I was happy to see Tony back online, and purchased some Ambrosia and his an Estate Brazil a while back.
How do you think this coffee would do in a lever?
My Cremina tends to bring out some of the acidity. I could, of course wait a few extra seconds after the boiler cycles to cool down a bit. (there's always the cold wet towel on the group as well
Thanks for the heads-up.

There you go, rubbing it in that I don't have a lever [yet]
Black Hand is very mellow relative to a Costa Rican SO, so should be very nice.

cafeIKE wrote:There you go, rubbing it in that I don't have a lever [yet]
Black Hand is very mellow relative to a Costa Rican SO, so should be very nice.

Not rubbing it in, but wishing I had a nice pump machine for those on all day, pump out the shots times.
Gonna order some next week, assuming I actually receive a 2 month overdue check from my last client/artist.
BTW, I'm not planning on pulling SO Costa rican shots ij the near future.

While one of everything is a good policy in theory, one or two well placed choices will give you an expanded range of ways to brew.

I still stand by taking any new coffee first to the LaPeppina before I move it into the big machine. The Peppina is so much faster to dial in and test doses and temps with. But if I want more than a couple of shots the big beast gets turned on.

Either way it sounds like I will be ordering a new blend to try out. Thanks for the review.

-Cecil

"The beast"...lol
I do miss my former "beast-ess" a QuickMill Anita.
My Cremina performs admirably when I do.
Back on topic, I've been told by the chief of staff I may purchase some coffee next week.
Wonder of wonders.

Just tried my first bag of Black Hand today, and the very first shot was one of the most interesting (and good tasting) shots I've pulled in a long time. I didn't even do anything special, it was going to be a test shot to get the grind dialed in, just a "down the middle" 15g 25 second shot. It looked beautiful, so I took a sip, and was hit with 3 distinct waves of flavor; citrus, then caramel, and then a very pleasant bitterness. At first I thought the bitterness was going to be classic over-extraction, but it was more of a bitter-almond taste, and just a touch on the tip of the tongue, very nice indeed.

Tristan,

Glad to hear the Black Hand Blend agrees with you. I'm looking forward to roasting & blending more for you in 2010, and thanks for all your patronage in 2009.

Happy New Year,

TonyS