I just received my # of the above espresso blend. Out of curiosity, I "upgraded" from my Belle gift to the WBE...priced at $18.95.
I must confess, in nearly 9 years of home roasting, I've never spent that much on green per pound, nor pre-roasted. I expected coffee at least as wonderful in its own way as the Belle. I was not disappointed.
Unfortunately, because of the Christmas Holiday, it took 8 days to get to me. I forgot to ask for USPS shipping, and it shipped FedX. No Saturday delivery.
So, it was already in the first day of its "7-12 day "peak tasting" period. (my words)
MUST DRINK A LOT QUICKLY!!
I think I'll skip the grind adjustment jazz and get down to my impressions of taste.
I do preface this by saying I DO NOT CLAIM TO HAVE MAGIC TASTE BUDS, BUD!! Nor can I elucidate, or translate my impressions nearly as well as the more experienced here.
COMPARISON WITH BELLE.
As I have a companion thread with my "Belle" espresso, including lots of great commentary from members, and Klatch, I figured it might be useful to post a quick nutshell comparison of taste profiles.
While Belle has that chocolaty bottom and dark cherry thing (to my taste), the WBE is a bit more multi-layered. I admit that I don't get quite the consistent taste constants I did with Belle. To me, that means there is a bit more involved in the WBE. Some shots gave me what I describe as a bright caramel, a layer of citrus and an almost flowery finish. The temperature (approximation, unfortunately) in my Cremina shots were around 201-ish, as recommended. I tossed the first shot of the session, feeling that even with several flushes, I might be below 201.
On another session later on day 8 (Tuesday) I got much the same, but with an added tiny bit of sweet tobacco. Perhaps I was a bit hot on the shot, but it was not unpleasant, even for a non smoker.
On subsequent sessions (4 sessions spaced out over 10 hours), I didn't get the tobacco.
I can't quite put my finger on the citrus exactly, though it is not lemon. It reminds me more of orange-y kumquats! I got a hint of cocoa in one session, but not the robust chocolate as from the Belle.
Klatch recommends 18gram doubles, so I'm cramming as much as I can into my Cremina double, nearly 16 grams. I have a slightly deeper Elektra basket, but I don't like the hole distribution.
This espresso is, to my taste, more complex, while the Belle I'd describe as "comfort food."
Not to brag, but I'd say my "Twangtown Blend" is somewhat similar to the WBE, but in no way as provocative. I am, after all, an amateur.
So far, I have to say that I am probably not familiar enough (or sophisticated enough) as yet with WBE to apply set in stone qualitative taste commentary.
However, with a good nights sleep ahead, and with the blend in its prime, I will go forward.
In closing (for now), I think it is admirable that Klatch can produce 2 coffee's that in differing ways provide such a fine impression.
I welcome all comments, and again, please bear with me. This coffee is a tricky little devil.
Happy New Year to all.
Rob J
http://www.klatchroasting.com/

If I remember correctly, it had been a while since I got a pound and I don't have any tasting notes handy, I think I was getting a tangerine twang among many other flavors and a nice balanced sweetness. I had both the WBC and USBC blends. The WBC blend was a tweaked version of the USBC blend. I preferred the USBC blend profile but both were very good. I need to order another bag and refresh my memory.

Dave...happy New Year.
Yes, tangerine crossed my mind, but there was that flavor Jim Schulman often mentions, "stone fruit" that seemed to take the edge of the "top end." (musical terms dominate my references sometimes )
As I did with the Belle Thread, I will forward this link to Mike Perry @ Klatch for his comments.
I'll be pulling shots today. I will pay special attention to attempting to suss out the caramel element a bit more completely.

One question. How does Klatch's Belle Espresso Blend stand up in milk? I prefer my espresso straight but my wife prefers lattes. Reason I ask is because i'm thinking of ordering a pound of it soon. Just got through with a pound of Intelly's BC. While I enjoyed it straight, it little to no bite in a latte.

mlunn01 wrote:One question. How does Klatch's Belle Espresso Blend stand up in milk? I prefer my espresso straight but my wife prefers lattes. Reason I ask is because i'm thinking of ordering a pound of it soon. Just got through with a pound of Intelly's BC. While I enjoyed it straight, it little to no bite in a latte.

BE works well in capps and macchiatos, my preferred espresso beverages. Not much "bite" but certainly holds up well to limited amounts of milk. I can't speak for "big gulp" lattes since I never go over a 2:1 milk:coffee ratio.

Go ahead and give it a try. It's hard to go wrong with this blend.

Beezer wrote:Belle is delicious in milk, sort of like hot milk chocolate with a bit of caramel.

Agreed: chocolate, caramel, some vanilla. Not particularly fruity. A great everyday blend.

Beezer wrote:Belle is delicious in milk, sort of like hot milk chocolate with a bit of caramel. My wife loves the cappuccinos I make her with Belle. In fact, she tells me she prefers them to the ones we've gotten from high end shops like Barefoot and Blue Bottle. She's very sweet.

You and John are correct. This nearly mirrors my posted description.
This us a "World's Best Espresso" thread. Can we get back OT?

Well caf-fiends, a little follow up.
My recent shots with 10-11 day old "Worlds best Espresso" has revealed some very mellow chocolate. Not pound over your head stuff, but very nice. This blend has also grown appreciably SWEETER.
I made an Americano from a pretty good looking 1.5 oz with crema shot. 6oz of water.
The chocolate became more pronounced, and the citrus more "orange-y."
There is decidedly less crema at this stage than there was with the "Belle" espresso (also from Klatch)
I'm only guessing that is due to less DP bean content in the WBE. It's not proper to discuss bean content....so I won't.
Just for kicks, I ground 1/5 Aerobie scoops @ just coarser than espresso grind, heated up 8oz of water to 200f, and prepared an Aerobie Press Americano as well, using the "upside down" technique and 2oz of water with the Aerobie. This way, no pre-pushed coffee sneaked it's way into the bottom till I flipped it over and pressed.
I added 5 more oz. of the water. The taste was terrific, with much the same profile, and if anything, even sweeter than the drink I prepared via my Oly Cremina.
I'm really curious to hear from others, and hopefully from Mike Perry as well.
As a footnote, even a small grind differential can make a substantial difference in it's taste profile, though it's all good.
The orange element reminds me somewhat of an El Salvador I roasted a while back, and used in my "Twangtown" blend. Sweet Maria's called it an Orange Bourbon, I believe. I think that referred to the color, but the coffee did have a citrus fruit aspect to it.
I hope I was able to provide some useful information, hopefully on the "North Side" of correct, as well.

EDIT I'm not sure I mentioned this earlier, but I purposely ignored (didn't look at) any descriptions of this blend, and in fact still haven't gone back there. I'm almost afraid of what I'll find!!!