First, a brief introduction for those new to the site...

As a special thank you to 2008's top contributing members, a contest was held among the site's "Most Valued Participants" (MVPs), a score based on the member's consistent participation over the past year. Paradise Roasters sponsored the prize the MVPs played for:

Aaron Meza of Paradise Roasters wrote:The winner will work with Paradise Roasters in creating an espresso blend designed to the winner's specifications. This first-hand look at what it takes to create an espresso blend includes one 12 oz. "first draft" bag of the custom espresso, one 12 oz. "second draft" bag of the custom espresso, and six 12 oz. "final" bags of the custom espresso.

The process will be recorded in a thread on Home-Barista. Once completed, the custom espresso will be offered for sale on http://www.paradiseroasters.com for everyone to try. Of course, the winner also receives 15% off the custom blend throughout its production run.

Scott Weaner (sweaner) won the contest and has been working with Aaron to develop the blend; you can read about it in Creating the MVP Espresso Blend. I received a sample of the first draft; it was darker than the final version and had very distinct roast notes. It would have made a very good base for lattes and cappuccinos.

The final version arrived last Friday and I've been sampling it for the last four days. It has a lighter roast than the original, has more floral aromatics, and is brighter. I tried different doses (14 to 16 grams) and volumes (1.0 to 1.75 ounces). Aaron recommended a brew temperature of 202F and I've stuck fairly close to it. For my equipment setup (Elektra Semiautomatica, Mazzer Robur), it pulled best at 15 grams, ~201F, and double volume of ~1.5 ounces. When cupping coffee, the trainers at Counter Culture Coffee always recommend writing down your very first impressions and doing so without too much thought.

So what did the flavor profile remind me of?

Overall I'm pleased with the final result. Admittedly I expected another "chocolate bomb" blend; Scott's MVP blend is more interesting, and reacts well to dose/volume manipulations. If you would like to try it, click here to order. Note that $1 is donated to CoffeeKids for every pound sold!

PS: Contributors to this thread are invited to use "spoiler" tags to hide your taste notes (suggested by IMAWriter). Just surround the text you want hidden with [spoiler]...[/spoiler].

Well, Since I live so close to Paradise Roasters I received my Home-Barista.com MVP Espresso 2009 blend one day after roast along with some Espresso Classico. (one of my personal favorites!)

This is obviously so close to roast that everything will change down the road but I thought I would give it a try anyway. First thing I noticed is the roast is lighter than I would expect after reading the roasters description notes online. Here it is along side of Counter Culture's La Forza espresso blend. There is a considerable difference in post roast dates between the two though.

I didn't weigh or measure anything, just did my normal routine to see how it would taste.
Looking good during the extraction (sorry, lighting not so good)

***Here are my first tasty thoughts***

I look forward to trying this over the next week or so and tasting the differences that it might take on. I'm interested in hearing from others on their first go around. I encourage everyone to order some and give it a try (the CoffeeKids donation rocks too!) Thanks to HB, Scott and PR for the work that was put into this and I'm thinking it has a VERY bright future ahead of it!
Edit: This was posted before seeing Dan's notes, and it looks like we share some similar observations on this blend, lets see how others taste it.

HB wrote:Scott's MVP blend is more interesting, and reacts well to dose/volume manipulations.

And temp changes for that matter. At 202+ degrees is when the lower notes tend to come out. Under 202 and these lower notes are absent. It's a fun and interesting espresso. I would emphasize "sweet" over "chocolaty" on this espresso.

I am happy to see some positive thoughts on the blend. Maybe I will actually get mine soon. Tomorrow maybe!

Dan, do you think we made improvement from V1 to the final blend? Dave "Cannonfodder" Stephens helped me immensely, not only with the blend but with my techniques and machine setup.

I hope that this is a successful program that will continue for years to come, with new blends every year.

sweaner wrote:Dan, do you think we made improvement from V1 to the final blend?

To my taste, yes, the final version is unquestionably better than the first draft.

HB wrote:{snipped, to get to the important stuff}

Dan, I get my MVP tomorrow or Thursday. I will attempt to use a spoiler, even though the cat is somewhat out of the bag. Geesh, while I'm typing this, my 16 year is watching "profane" versions of Blue's Clues on YouTube.

Holy $#!+, Batman -- there are profane versions???

* * * * *

Should be getting mine soon . . . I know Vivace arrives in two days (roast & ship on Monday; arrive on Wednesday), so I'm hoping I get mine either later today or tomorrow.

You gettin' some Dolce?...excellent!
Yes, Steve gets HIS!

According to the emails I have received, both Paradise and Vivace roasted and shipped Monday (2/9). The USPS delived the Vivace at 12:45 this afternoon. The Paradise will arrive, hopefully, tomorrow.

I received mine today and can attest that it is worth waiting for. With no grind change from my last home roast other than a quick clean, it slotted right in as a fruity, pleasant, almost peachy/apricot flavored roast when pulled on my Cremina 14+gr @.9 bar as ristretto. Only two days into the rest. In that way it reminds me of the Korati that was great after the first day. I hope it lasts at peak for longer though. So.. I think this is going to have as many flavors as there are machines and Baristas that pull it. The roast was lighter than expected. At that roast it is awesome! I am not the guy to give a great cupping note but SWeaner and Aaron "done good!" It was worth having to unscrew all my Google accounts!
-Richard