Mike McKim, owner of Cuvee Coffee, was kind enough to provide samples of his Meritage espresso blend to a number of HB folks. I was lucky enough to be one of them.

From Mike:

Cuvee wrote:As far as the Meritage goes, we set all of our machines and customers machines to:

Water Temp: 201.5
Shot Volume: .75 - 1 ounce
Dose: 20 grams (using straight sided double baskets in our La Marzoccos).
Shot Time: We usually shoot for 26 - 28 seconds as this seems to be a sweet spot (considering all the above variables).

As far as flavor descriptors, this is one that I struggle with. I hate to plant seeds or give expectations with subtle nuances that are there, but not 100% of the time (depending on how the shot is made). I think the most common descriptors that we get are balanced, with a creamy body, good sweetness (most often described as brown sugary) medium acidity and when the shot is proper there is a really nice fruit finish, sometimes blueberry, sometimes strawberry and I have heard sometimes blackberry, but I have never tasted the blackberry personally.

As you can see from the description - the parameters for this espresso are what you might describe as "extreme". Very very high dose, moderately high brew temp, very low volume.
Sounded to me like a good challenge!!

First... LM ridged double basket (I don't have any LM ridgeless double baskets):

If you simply follow the intent of the instructions (ignoring philosophical beliefs about updosing, etc) this is pretty easy coffee to work with. The approach I found most successful was to truly maximize the volume of coffee in a ridged LM double basket and pull an est 0.75oz to 1oz ristretto shot. This allows for a restricted flow rate but with a coarser grind and seems to bring out the described profile. When I say "maximize the volume" - let me be clear... there was NO headspace on top of the puck. Yeah... philosophically "wrong".

The espresso is dominated by tons of berry (blueberry, blackberry) and cassis both in the nose and the cup. Structure is slightly tannic and there are hints of leather in the body. There is very little sweetness with this espresso (caramel, honey). Medium bodied. Gorgeous red crema. (Temp around 200F)

If you "tweak" the provided goals and use a slightly lowered temp (but still up-dose dramatically and pull very short) you can bring in some berry-sweetness and some cranberry sweetness. A nice pomegranate note also appears. At this temp, however, the espresso becomes thinner and more tannic. (Temp around 199F)

I found that going up to the specified 201F resulted in a cup that was very leathery and dry. Some chocolate appeared, but all the fruit went away and the cup was a little "stewed" tasting.

My actual parameters were not as "specified". My machine (the "super modified" Mia) required some slight tweaks to get the flavour as described by the roaster. I had a dose between 19 and 20 grams, extraction time was consistently right around 25 seconds. This was consistent at both temps I found good results from.

I don't think that a different machine should require a different approach - though might require different dose and/or extraction time.



Second... Synesso Triple basket:

Moderate updose, slow flow on the shot. 1.5oz shot in 28 seconds. A little over 201F.
Lots of chocolate, a little caramel, leather in the body. Berry and plum in the finish with some hints of pomegranate syrup. Berry was mostly noticed in the aroma - where it was perceived as blueberry and raspberry.
Still a little unbalanced as a straight shot but entirely drinkable.
Very nice in short milk drinks where it becomes all milk chocolate fruit truffle. This is a particularly nice espresso for a 5.5oz cappuccino when extracted in this manner.

Oddly, the LM triple basket yielded significantly inferior results for me (chocolate down, leather up; berry down, plum up; super unbalanced).



One note of caution... this is not a particularly hard espresso to work with. But if your machine has a dramatic decline in intra-shot brew temp, you might struggle to get a shot you're happy with.


To sum up...

This is a very "personal" espresso. It has a signature flavour that is unlike the normal well known espressos - and that should be applauded. It is far from meek. As such... it's likely that you're going to either love it or hate it.

If you mostly drink short milk drinks, like your coffees big and bold and own a Synesso triple basket you might really like this espresso.
If you love Ethiopian SO shots and prefer your espresso very ristretto, you also might really like this espresso.

Thanks, Chris. I haven't had this coffee in a few months; I don't remember going wild with it in terms of dosing, but I was very happy with the results at the time, which tended towards ristretto without being extreme. I was using the ridgeless LM double, which is my preferred basket.

I fit your description to a tee, though--I adore a nice Ethiopian SO, and my preference is short cappuccinos in the 4.5-5.5 oz. range, down to slightly milky macchiatos.

Cuvee wrote:As far as the Meritage goes, we set all of our machines and customers machines to:

Water Temp: 201.5
Shot Volume: .75 - 1 ounce
Dose: 20 grams (using straight sided double baskets in our La Marzoccos).
Shot Time: We usually shoot for 26 - 28 seconds as this seems to be a sweet spot (considering all the above variables).

At first I thought these brew parameters were a typo. Twenty grams for a one ounce shot? I haven't broken out the triple baskets in ages, but what the heck, I don't think that I've ever tried it with the Elektra Semiautomatica and Compak K10 WBC grinder. The pours were easy as pie from the get-go. Brought back memories of Neverending Novelty of Nakedness... Not:


One of JonR's famous "naked" extractions

Like JonR's pour shown above, Meritage boasts deep mahogany crema, rich syrupy texture, and ultra low acidity. Taste dominated by oak, leather, and tobacco. When pulled just-so, it flirts with florals and wine (Merlot? Not sure, I don't know wines that well). Reminds me of the bold, low-acidity, ultra-rich ristrettos that were the rage a couple years ago at barista competitions, but have since been supplanted by lighter "fruit and nut" varietal blends. It blended well with milk. Later this week I'd like to compare the results from the Elektra with those of the Ponte Vecchio Lusso. If it performs like Counter Culture's La Forza, the darker notes will fade and the florals will come to the forefront.

Try dropping brew temp (just until the tobacco goes away). Right at that fine line you should get the fruit and no tobacco.

Greetings Men,

Thanks for all your input thus far and thanks for diving so deep into this coffee. I really enjoy hearing ALL of the feedback. I think I really put you all on the wrong path out of the gate. When I say .75 - 1 ounce, I meant per shot...not total volume. Dan and Clancy read Chris's post and started to pull total volume .75/20gram shots and they were very leather, non dimensional, etc. This is a perfect match to your description, Chris...very good tasting notes! I am going to do the same in the office tomorrow. Please note that I meant total volume of 1.5 - 2 ounces. This is what we do in the office and is the area that I have comfort.

Best,

mike

mikemckim wrote: Dan and Clancy read Chris's post and started to pull total volume .75/20gram shots and they were very leather, non dimensional, etc.

Have them reduce the brew temp.
They'll be (pleasantly) surprised I think.

Stanner wrote:I'm also under the impression that Cuvee is moving to just south of Austin... is this correct Mike?

Yes, the new roasting plant is on HWY 71 in Spicewood...about 25 miles west of downtown. The building is up and the electrical/build out is starting. Our new roaster is supposed to hit the port of Houston today and should clear customs in a week (so they tell me). Once we get the new roaster up and tweaked in (in Spicewood), we can shut down production in Houston and move the entire office. We are trying to get this done this month, but I think that we will most likely be 100% moved before the end of February. We plan to have a little get together once the move is done so stay tuned if you want to come out for some beer, bbq and coffee!

Chris,

I tried your suggestion about lowering the temp and pulling the extremely ristretto shots. You are right this is definitely a very interesting expression of this coffee. It made the leather note much more pleasant where at the higher temp it bordered on harsh. I think this is probably more pronounce in the ridged baskets which from my experience with our coffee tend to go stew-y easier than the straight sided baskets.

I doubt if you have any coffee left, but would be interested to hear your thoughts on shots pulled in the 20g - 1.75-2oz total volume range.

I am going to look into dropping the temp on those shots as well tomorrow. My thought is that it will make the body rounder, but I am afraid it may narrow the range on the coffee and it will be sour at ~25 secs extraction time or less.

I've been out of town, so didn't get a chance to sample Cuvee's Meritage blend until today. This is a fairly light roast for espresso, highly aromatic, looking and smelling very promising.


No visible oil droplets; a light northern Italian style roast.

I tested a range of doses (16g to 20g) and temperatures (roughly 198-202F) on my Vetrano (an E61 HX machine) and Spaziale S1 (a double boiler). At higher doses and temperatures, I tasted predominantly vanilla, almond, leather, and some chocolate. At lower doses and temperatures, this blend was noticeably more fruity, dominated by sour cherry, vanilla/almond extract, and chocolate. These were "traditional" 45-50ml doubles (sorry, Chris ) with brew ratios of 50-65%.

There were subtle differences between the HX and DB pulls. This may be due to brew temperature profiles (humped HX vs. flat DB), basket shape, and perhaps a slightly lower dose (~1g) in the 53mm S1 basket. Some have reported problems updosing the S1. I had no such issues:

19g Spaziale porn

In general, I preferred the S1 pours as straight shots, and the Vetrano pours with milk. Both were improved (IMHO of course) by a small amount of sugar, which seemed to enhance the sour cherry notes.

An interesting blend, and one that I will continue testing over the next few days. Thanks, Mike!

RapidCoffee wrote:I've been out of town, so didn't get a chance to sample Cuvee's Meritage blend until today. This is a fairly light roast for espresso, highly aromatic, looking and smelling very promising.

[emphasis mine]

I'm also going to join in the fray. I ordered myself some Meritage to try on my new setup, and to generally refresh my memory (or change it) as to this blend. It was roasted yesterday, and I personally drove to visit the guys and pick it up. While I was there, I had the excellent opportunity to taste and help judge shots and cappuccinos made by Dan and Clancy. As you can imagine, they really make their coffee sing. Clancy was working with a blend that's a variation of Meritage, using the same ingredients in different proportions. The shots were heavy-bodied, syrupy, and well-balanced. I can never pick out nuttiness in a straight shot, but the nuttiness in some of the cappuccinos was simply sublime, a nice toasted nut flavor for me (Clancy called it Macadamia--I can see that). The berry for me was pretty mild and sweet, and I tasted a little freshness (as a small defect giving a slightly edgy sourness) in the coffee. The edginess was heavily on the back end; The finish was still good, but the prolonged aftertaste was noticeably tainted for me.

Of course, that's with 2-day old coffee. The Meritage I came home with I've separated into 2 jars, one for the freezer, one in a drawer, and then about a third of the coffee left in the bag, which is open in the hopper, "open air aging" per Clancy's suggestion--he said it seems to peak after 3 days when aged in this fashion.

Anyway, the dry aromatics of this coffee are wonderful. Last night when I was dividing my bag up, I took the opportunity to stick my whole face in the bag and inhale... excellence. The Sidamo dominates the aromatics with berry, but it's balanced by the other blend ingredients. Very distinct and almost overpowering in intensity. Anyhow, I'll post my experience with the blend as it peaks in the next few days.

Dan Streetman wrote:I doubt if you have any coffee left, but would be interested to hear your thoughts on shots pulled in the 20g - 1.75-2oz total volume range.

I pulled some shots with the very last of it - shooting for this combo (LM ridged double).
I had to take the brew temp up to get it to work (otherwise I got a rather unpleasant astringent citric note), but at a little over 201F I started to get some decent results in the 1.75oz range. I got a lot of chocolate (bittersweet and dutch cocoa) as well as some hints of leather and some macadamia nut. There was some dried fruit (fig mostly) and hints of plum. The finish was dominated by sour cherry, slightly sour cranberry and some hints of blueberry acidity.
I found this less enjoyable than the Synesso Triple Basket extraction (as described above) for short milk drinks. For straight shots - I would probably score both equally -- but I would prefer the Synesso version simply because it is a more unique taste (whereas this shot was a little too "generic new american" for me).

zin1953 wrote:An off-the-wall (perhaps) question, if I may: why "Meritage"?

Back in 2001, my business partner and I started heading in different directions so I bought his half of the business and changed the company name to Cuvee Coffee (we used to call our espresso blend Espresso Cuvee). In keeping with a sort of wine theme, I called the espresso blend Meritage much like a wine maker might call a specific blend of grapes a Meritage...and 2 Buck Chuck was already taken

Maybe 2 Buck Chuck was taken, but what about 20 Buck Chuck (2 lb. bags)?

Jason, what does the word mean?

EDIT: Google again came up with an answer- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritage
Of course, I could have just read the link you did provide!

Well, finally had a chance to pull the Cuvee out of the freezer and give it a shot. Pulled shots from 14gr to 22gr and from 91 to 95 degrees Celsius. I found I definitely needed to updose the coffee and run the temperature a bit higher than I usually do for this type of blend. The best shot came it at around 94 degrees and 20gr. I had to move to the triple after about 17gr in my VII. The most likable shot had some good brown sugar and caramel with just a hint of dark berries. Lower temperature and I got a harsh front end. Lower volume and I lost the sweetness. Here's a snapshot of my "sweetspot".

Cheers

Ian