ThaRiddla wrote:Sorry about that...this is fixed.

Thank you! An order has been placed and am looking forward to trying it.

I asked about BlackCat at the Whole Foods in Devon PA. The area of this store which has been devoted to coffee is large and conspicuous, opposite the freshly prepared foods counter and near the baked goods. They have coffees from the well-established Philadelphia-area roasters who use a "best if used by" package dating policy that is designed to give the (in my experience false) impression that their coffees have a shelf life of several months. The store also has a lot of brightly colored canisters that play up the exotic aspect of beans from Distant Lands. And they have beans sitting in bins with flip-top glass lids which ironically are meant to give the impression that those beans are extra-fresh, even though they were roasted more than a month ago and have been sitting there in those bins ever since.

I was speaking with an "Assistant Store Team Leader". His concern was that a roaster who sought to turn the relatively short shelf life of espresso roasts to advantage could leave them with a lot of product that needed to be dumped. So he would not be inclined to bring in a new coffee product, he said, unless, perhaps, the roaster were prepared to promote it in a big way with in-store tastings, demonstrations, etc etc.

Regards
Timo

P.S. If I were in coffee marketing, I'd be co-marketing a Ponte Vecchio Lusso or Export (because of their retro simplicity) and a French Press with my roastery's name branded on it, along with my artisan coffees. What you have, instead, are machine designers trying to give their espresso appliances a mere retro "skin" or look: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/fashi ... ref=slogin

About a week ago, I got some really good results from a Black Cat Dec 17th batch.

When I ran out of that 1/2 lb bag, I got another one. But the results were quite different.

First batch was really great, smooth, lots of flavor and not bitter.
Second batch did not have nearly as much flavor and tasted much more bland.

Some of this could still be my technique (Silvia does not have PID), but I'm sure I was getting consistently better shots from the first bag.

Is it common to notice such differences?

I haven't had Black Cat since late summer, early fall. It was getting hard to pull at home and the taste was definitely off. Not bitter, but a much stronger aftertaste. A barista pulling Black Cat in NY confirmed he was having the same problems with pull and taste. I figured it was going through a phase, so I stopped ordering for a while.

Well, I just pulled fresh Black Cat at home this morning. It was exquisite. Full bodied, smooth, strong, but not harsh. And no overemphasis on peanuts. Thanks Intellegentsia!

timo888 wrote:I asked about BlackCat at the Whole Foods in Devon PA.

I was at the Whole Foods in West LA a few days ago and in their bulk coffee section, coffee in baskets with scoops, half of them had little signs saying fresh roasted on with the dates being from 0 to 3 days earlier and behind them was a small coffee roaster. Kind of like a very oversized air popper. Probably held a couple of pounds of beans, 2 pids, likely capable of good results but not likely giving them. Looks to be on a timer as at one point I noticed the roast had finished and the beans were still sitting in the roasting chamber and had not been dropped into the cooling tray. I tried to get a picture but some employee shooed me away and said pictures aren't allowed. Need to go back with a better camera, I was trying to use my wifes I phone and couldn't figure it out before I got caught.

Ira

Does someone know if Intelligentsia ships internationally? (would they ship to Poland?) I asked them directly but run into a spam filter engine, and probably my question didn't reach them.

Hi Pawel,

If you replied to the spam filter, your original message will, indeed, reach me...but I'll go ahead and answer here.

We will certainly ship to Poland, but the logistics of setting it up on our web site are challenging. You can give us a call toll free at 888.945.9786 (I don't know if it's toll free internationally) and order via phone or via email at nationalsupport [at] intelligentsiacoffee.com.

In either case, be sure to include quantities and sizes of any coffees you want to order, grind setting (or whole bean), your name, billing address, shipping address, email, phone number, credit card and expiration. You should get an email confirmation of your order, but ask for one just in case.

Contact information is paramount...if there are any issues, we need to be able to get a hold of you.

Matt

ThaRiddla wrote: We will certainly ship to Poland,
Matt

Thank you for replying, I'm happy to hear that! I love black cats
I'll make an order in the early february, to raise good fortune in the spring time (acc. to Chinese Calendar)
Thanks!

So glad to hear Intelligentsia ships to Europe! Haven't had any Black Cat since visiting family in Chicago many moons ago.

Jon

Got a recent order of Black Cat, Kid O and some Kenya and being that the Black Cat was the only one I opened as the others went double bagged into the freezer, can say that it's an excellent blend, somewhat different than in the past.

Seems to me to be lighter in color, not as richly chocolate/roasted as before which is good because on two previous occasions it had been over-roasted, well rounded, smooth and equally good solo or in milk.

The 'direction' BC has ventured reminds me of it being closer to Tony's Ambrosia and Paradise's Classico both excellent espressos.

I like this version of Black Cat!