CounterCulture Toscano, roasted and blended in the caffe dolce style, is one of my favorites. I would like to compare it to the offerings of other roasters who are aiming for this particular style, as described by Counter Culture:

Counter Culture website wrote:Fazenda Vista Allegre "Traditional Dry" ° Sumatra Lintong ° Sumatra Aceh Gayo...
espresso roasted and blended in the caffe dolce or "sweet coffee" tradition of Central Italy. Sweet and mild, with notes of caramel, hazelnut, and dark chocolate.

Suggestions of other blends/roasts in this style are appreciated.

Regards
Timo

A few years back, it was similar to Black Cat. But I think they've been evolving in different directions. B & B's Dancing Goats and Zoka's espresso blend are also in the ballpark. I don't recall anything closer than those.

Thanks, Jim. I liked the Zoka Paladino, but have never tried anything from B&B. I will give them a try and see how they compare to the Toscano.

If the Toscano and Black Cat were closer in the past, they have moved apart since. I have had the Toscano only once, very recently, and so cannot trace any arc there, and I have had Black Cat twice, once a couple of weeks ago and the first time almost a year ago. The Toscano was roasted to a brighter golden color. The Black Cat has changed markedly over the past year, if the two batches I've tried are not aberrations. Last year's batch of BlackCat had been roasted not too much deeper than the Redline pictured in the thread on Caffe D'Arte Firenze which I posted last night. There were no surface oils on the bean. The recent BlackCat was roasted as about as deep as the Firenze, with lots of surface oil.
Regards
Timo

timo888 wrote:Thanks, Jim. I liked the Zoka Paladino, but have never tried anything from B&B. I will give them a try and see how they compare to the Toscano.

Compared Paladino and Dancing Goat earlier this year. If you liked Paladino I suspect you'll like the Goat too.

Thanks, miKe. Dancing Goat goes onto the list.

We use to serve Toscano but went with a custom blend after Lintong was added. Our blend is closer to the 2005 Toscano taste profile. For lack of an exciting name it is called Pheasant Creek Espresso, however we are talking to Dan about running a contest to name the espresso blend.

timo888 wrote:Thanks, miKe. Dancing Goat goes onto the list.

I am enjoying the Dancing Goat, it is pretty good, but I must report that it is far afield from the Toscano.

Regards
Timo

PheasantCreek wrote:We use to serve Toscano but went with a custom blend after Lintong was added. Our blend is closer to the 2005 Toscano taste profile. For lack of an exciting name it is called Pheasant Creek Espresso, however we are talking to Dan about running a contest to name the espresso blend.

I did not discover the Toscano until 2006. What is it about the Lintong that you did not like?

Did you say contest? Bring on the swag

Regards
Timo

P.S. I went to your website and read that your Toscano-like blend "does not like it as hot as [CounterCulture's] Toscano". Its brewing well at higher temperatures is one of the additional benefits of the Toscano 2006 for a lever user. The CC Toscano is one of the lightest-colored roasts I've tried, the beans were golden, and yet its flavors are much deeper than its color would suggest. From something PeterG wrote, I gather that a longer roast at lower temperatures is in part responsible for these good qualities?

2006 Toscano peaks around 9 to 10 days after the roast. When it peaks, it is a thing of beauty. As a coffeeshop owner, it just got problematic to order and sit on the coffee for a week. Before it peaked I would find this raisin sugar spike in the flavor that I didn't care for but on the 9th/10th day it was an amazing chocolate bomb. 2005 Toscano was Sumatra Gayo, Sulwesi, and Brazil. It peaked around the 4th day. The main difference between the two years was 2005 had a heavy sugar hit in the bottom of the shot. Both at the peak exhibit amazing caramel and chocolate notes.

As for the contest, I'll be chatting with Dan and the other local Home Baristas in the First Friday get together at the shop. Of course all of you are welcome if you're in the Triangle area!

-g