I just finished the bag of La Maravilla that i purchased this morning. The best shots i pulled seemed to have a strong fruit characteristic both to the nose, and the palate. Sweeter then anything that i have sampled outside of Intelligentsia's roasts. (Mind you my samplings are still limited thus far )

My brother commented to me that the SO Black Cat was the best espresso he has had yet. Him and i both seem to share similar tastes. Seems we both enjoy sweet, fruity, and floral in both espresso, and scotch

-Donovan

just be thankful you receive it within several days...ever since they switched their canada shipping to USPS priority, it costs more and takes about 2 weeks to arrive here! go figure. i usually hate UPS, but i never got dinged with duty/brokerage and it only took about 1-2 days to show up on my doorstep. i no longer order as it's too much hassle. when i get a chance i occasionally pick some up locally (but it's not the same as having it land on your doorstep whenever you want it!).

Panama Finca Santa Teresa: A glorious espresso as a straight shot. Luscious and complicated but balanced. Incredibly sweet and fruit forward. Exotic floral aromatics, pomegranate acidity and a smooth, creamy body. Good caramel notes and an incredibly long, sweet, fruit and chocolate finish. A little finicky on dose - seems best at a very slight updose. Seemed best pulled short (1.3oz doubles). OK in very short milk but became odd and thin in longer milk drinks. Seemed best at slightly below 200F. If pulled too hot, becomes dominated by spice and chocolate and loses all the fruits and sweetness.

Guatemala La Maravilla: Very nice. Really (really) balanced espresso. Heavy on the chocolate with a nice dried cherry acidity. Polished and elegant. A "sophisticated" shot. Really quite good in short milk drinks where the chocolate becomes rounded by the fats and the acidity carries. Enjoyed most at right above 200F, with a full 2oz volume and updosed.

Sumatra Lake Tawar: Not my cup of tea. I would guess that folks who are passionate about Indonesian coffees might like it - especially if they drink tall milk drinks. The shots look gorgeous (as pretty as any I've seen). But in the cup dominated by a sickly sweet note and heavy ferment. Body is somewhat tar-like. Required a low brew temp to be even tolerable (197f) and a slight downdose and very short and slow extraction.

ThaRiddla wrote:RE: Black Cat - Black Cat has always been something we take great pride in, put forth tremendous efforts toward and do our best to make it excellent. To us, that seemed like it deserved more than just being a blend in our lineup. That's why we've expanded the scope of what "Black Cat" is. It's become it's own project...

Intelligentsia is a project -- a business project hoping to succeed, and so far doing just that! That's true with ANY business -- it's a work-in-progress, a project that one is forever fine-tuning, tweaking, adjusting to all sorts of "real world" conditions and events.

Black Cat WAS the name of a specific blend/type of coffee. Now it's become a brand name . . .

Instead of Intelligentsia (brand) "Black Cat" (blend), Intelligentsia (brand) "House" (blend), or Intelligentsia (brand) "Breakfast" (blend) -- there are now two brand names: Intelligentsia (brand) Black Cat (brand) "Espresso" (blend), Intelligentsia (brand) Black Cat (brand) "Organic Espresso" (blend), or Intelligentsia (brand) Black Cat (brand) "Decaf Espresso" (blend) . . . let alone the specific types (rather than blends) -- Intelligentsia (brand) Black Cat (brand) Micro-Lot "Finca Santa Teresa Espresso" (type), or Intelligentsia (brand) Black Cat (brand) Single Origin Espresso: "La Maravilla, Guatemala" (type).

I've yet to figure out the advantage of a second branding in terms of marketing. It dilutes the power/name recognition of "Black Cat" and muddies the proverbial waters. For example, which scenario is more advantageous to Intelligentsia:

Scenario No. 1:
Coffee Drinker #1: "Wow, have you tried Intelligentsia's Black Cat Espresso? It's fantastic!"
Coffee Drinker #2: "No, I haven't -- I'll have to get some and check it out."

Scenario No. 2:
Coffee Drinker #1: "Wow, have you tried Intelligentsia's Black Cat Espresso? It's fantastic!"
Coffee Drinker #2: "Which one?"

Part of marketing is all about clarity of image in the mind of the consumer -- brand name recognition. It doesn't matter what company actually manufactured the facial tissue, most Americans still call it a "Kleenex." Now there are a veritable "stable" of various Black Cats out there . . . and we all know how difficult it is to herd cats . . . .

Cheers,
Jason

P.S. To the folks at Intelligentsia: I enjoy your coffee, and make it a point to swing by the Silver Lake location whenever I'm in LA, no matter how far out of my way it is (and it's usually considerably out of my way!). I hope you continue to enjoy commercial success, and maintain the high levels of esteem in the hearts of coffee lovers (and home baristas) everywhere. I hope I'm wrong in my opinions of the "Black Cat Project" causing more confusion than clarity. Indeed, I've been wrong before in my marketing career! Hopefully this is one of those times . . .

Actually, this sort of Brand Hierarchy is very common in marketing. The combination of a Master Brand (Proctor & Gamble, Apple, Coca Cola) and Product Brand (Swiffer, iPod, Coke Zero) is one of the more common structures. As long as the relationship is well understood and the hierarchy is well defined and communicated, it is very effective.

Your issue rises not from the inherent hierarchy of the Brand - but rather from the elevation of a single product name (black cat) to a Product Brand (Black Cat). It would be as if Apple were to elevate iMac from the name of a product to the Product Brand for all their computing products (iMac Pro, iMac Mini, iMac Book etc) -- assuming that there were not already an existing "Mac" Brand of course.

This issue is - to be honest - purely temporal and limited to a small subset of their customer base. In other words... you are in a very small minority of people who will care, and even this group will stop caring.

Intelligentsia didn't have a Brand for their espressos.
They wanted to brand their family of espressos.
Black Cat is an easy option as it has existing Brand Equity. This makes it temporarily confusing and long-term more affordable.

Personally... I would have created a new Brand for their espressos.
But that's easy to say when I don't have to pay for it.

malachi wrote:Intelligentsia didn't have a Brand for their espressos.
They wanted to brand their family of espressos.
Black Cat is an easy option as it has existing Brand Equity. This makes it temporarily confusing and long-term more affordable.

Personally... I would have created a new Brand for their espressos.
But that's easy to say when I don't have to pay for it.

Good points, Chris.

Thanks... and sorry about the rant. Too much of my career has (clearly) been spent in brand strategy. sigh.