I'm about to place an order at Counter Culture. Any suggestions on which of their coffees are best for espresso?
Thanks.

top-level coffee houses that serve Counter Culture grind their Apollo, but be aware that CC reformulates Apollo depending upon what is available during the season. That is why in the past the blend was named "Apollo 3.0, Apollo 4.0", etc. I do not know why they dropped the 'edition' designation from the name - I would assume that it is still being reformulated.
One good coffee cafe in Philadelphia told me that they use CC's '46' because that formulation is blended to stay as unchanging as they can.
Those are the two that I have encountered in good retail establishments. You can always call or email CC and talk to them - they are good in that way.

Buckley

Toscano was a highly recommended coffee of theirs for quite some time. It was a comfort blend that was very easy to pull as it was very forgiving on temperature. The name has changed now to Big Trouble, and though I haven't had it since the name change, it's the one I'd order if I were shopping today.

It depends on what your looking for. Like Merle said, Big Trouble (formerly Toscano) is a comfort blend usually recommended here for those fairly new to espresso.
Forty Six is darker roasted with more roast notes. Apollo is always an Ethiopian and is clean & bright. I personally like Hologram the best (formerly Rustico), more interesting than a comfort blend with some brightness but not too bright. It usually contains some DP Ethiopian which I love, so is fruit forward and chocolatey with some complexity.

javaman wrote:Any suggestions on which of their coffees are best for espresso?

I think it's a shame that espresso is now a dirty word to them and more or less banished from their website.

Just noticed a new limited release blend from CCC called Underdog. Looks interesting, a blend of PNG/Timor/Burundi. I would love to know if this would be recommended for espresso.

Javaman, I'm at CCC pretty much once a week and have tried a variety of their excellent coffees. As mentioned in some other replies the best recommendation kind of depends on what you are looking for in an espresso. I would highly recommend starting with Hologram which is a nice middle of the road espresso - a little caramel a little fruit some acidity but not too much. If you find it a little bright then move over to Big Trouble if you find it a bit tame then by all means give Apollo a try.

Cheers

Ian

BuckleyT wrote:CC reformulates Apollo depending upon what is available during the season. That is why in the past the blend was named "Apollo 3.0, Apollo 4.0", etc. I do not know why they dropped the 'edition' designation from the name - I would assume that it is still being reformulated.

Apollo has been a rotation of washed Ethiopia coffees for some time now. After iterating for a while they seem to have settled on that as a concept that works well. Expect higher acidity, citrus/floral sweetness, and a clean finish. Espresso brewing parameters should be adjusted to accommodate a dense, lighter-roasted coffee. Makes a nice filter coffee as well.

I agree with previous comments that Hologram is their most widely appealing espresso blend option, with chocolate/fruit notes that work well in most applications. The roast is medium in appearance, darker than Apollo and lighter than Forty-Six. Almost always a blend of Central or South American coffees with an Ethiopian Natural.

Thanks these are great suggestions. I had some CC a while back (toscano, rustica and la forza, and another) but they seem to have changed the names as you all have pointed out.