I am sorry, I was referring to "Black Cat Classic". If you ask people you will hear that most will say that Black Cat is associated with chocolate bomb type of blend. Well, it was, not anymore.

I thought that they used other monikers for single origin like current Black Cat Organic Espresso and Black Cat Espresso, La Pinera.

In any case, right or wrong, most people associated Black Cat with certain taste profile and when you read the descriptor on their web-site you will be lead to believe that it is indeed a chocolate bomb blend. I think that is wrong, that is what I take issue with.

They make fine coffee, they roast it skillfully, but current Black Cat Classic iteration is just not to my taste I suspect lot of people like their current blend since they have no problems selling it.

There are SO varietals etc. that may be offered for limited time periods under the Black Cat name but "Black Cat Classic" itself also changed. I'll have to nose to find the thread that discussed this here or on coffeed when the change occurred - but it was a very public change. It's just as clear as can be. They don't specifically label it as a "seasonal blend" but their entire program shifted in such a way that it is now what they do for Black Cat Classic. There are plenty of other espresso blends fro some fine roasters such as Counter Culture, Metropolis, Ecco, Novo etc. that are not seasonal and tend to be more consistent year in and year out. Could Intelligentsia achieve that? I'm sure they could but they made a decision to focus on the seasonal approach.

From the website of Volta Coffee - January 2009

http://www.voltacoffee.com/?q=node/74

...our roaster, Intelligentsia, has been working quietly through the year to revolutionize their espresso offering. It started with a fundamental shift in they way that they blend their standard Black Cat espresso. The changes started with assigning reigning US Barista Champion Kyle Glanville with the new job of director of espresso. Out of the gate, Kyle shook up the dominant way of blending espresso by undertaking a project to reformulate Black Cat to express seasonality. Gone are the days of warehousing enough of the blend's components to offer one single version of Black Cat year round; now, the individual components are in line with Intelligentsia's In Season program, always shifting as new coffees come into season. Black Cat isn't a monolithic blend as much as a reflection of the best seasonal blend. The second shift was to take Black Cat direct trade. Starting last fall, all of the individual coffees in Black Cat come from direct trade relationships with individual farmers and co-ops. The farms and farmers are now listed on the bag.

tekomino wrote:I find syrupy and sweet descriptor misleading since current iteration is certainly not.

I found it syrupy both during extraction and in my mouth. Maybe the 9+ days?
Sweet, surely not.

Well, I love it, then I hate it, then I love it again. I just can't stay away from Black Cat. Its either warming up my innards or composting my tomatoes. I had to try this version in hope that saneness returned to Chicago and that hopefully chocolate bomb is back.

Well, they are off the acid trip This latest incarnation Dec 2010 is much, much more palatable than the older grapefruit, lemon rind, apricot pit bombs.

It is not chocolate bomb, but it has very nice balance between pleasant acidity and sweetness. I like it. If you stayed away from Black Cat, time to give this one a try.

I like it at 17g, 198F, 22-24g output at about 25 sec. Enjoy.

A lot of roasters have been shifting to a more acidic citrus espresso. Something I noted in the Favorite Espresso Blends 2010 review, lots of lemon and grapefruit. Very few blends we tried did not have these flavors. Some were major players others were background notes but almost all were citrus influenced. Long rests were also in vogue with most roasters recommending around a week or more of rest before use. A couple years ago it was 4-5 days.

I believe that by moving to fresher green the gain in sweetness and other complex flavors can mask over a lot of the citrus. From that point on, lemon rind and sour wood begin to noisily creep in. That's at least one variable I can think of where many roasters may be slippin. Intelligentsia is amongst the very freshest, though.

I remember a shot of Black Cat I had in June. The barista said it was Bolivian, but I think it was Costa Rican or something along those lines. It had sugar cane flavors with a slight shimmering background. I enjoyed it.

Well i've pulled some shots this weekend from a bag of black cat organic serra do bone roasted on 11-29. I got some notes of fruity acidity that were nicely offset by a touch of chocolate/caramel. All in all, a pretty good balance. Reminded me of some single origins from 49th parallel (Kiangoi Peaberry... and yes, for espresso shots) but with less fruit and brightness.

Certainly not the chocolate bomb of old but i think its quite enjoyable and a nice variation on the whole black cat thing.

I've tried the Black Cat myself and I was really pleased. Excellent espresso !

I'm with tekomino on this one. First, that whatever it is, the current iteration (July 2011) is very good and i would absolutely buy more. But second, when Intelligentsia uses "classic" and "staple" in the branding and description, the bag needs to contain whatever created its reputation in the first place.

This is no criticism of "seasonal" blends, or of what Intelligentsia is trying to accomplish with their sourcing and methods, and certainly not of the excellence of the current offering. But "classic" is a misleading word to associate with any blend du jour, no matter its quality.

I plus 1000 the sentiments regarding the 'CLASSIC' word being misleading when the taste/profile of the coffee changes, and the changes are not subtle. There's enough change that it drives people away to other blends. This, doesn't make any sense, AT ALL.

If someone can explain to me why they sell these seasonal blends like 'Sugar Glider' at a premium over the 'Classic' I'd appreciate it. Quite frankly, it's as though I've paid a premium just to try a different blend, that I could get just as easily and more cheaply with another roaster, OR what I could do, is wait a week or two and most likely have quite a different 'Classic' to try.

I love the Intelly stuff, don't get me wrong. The premium blends are confusing to me, though. I can tolerate a 'Classic' blend that I don't like more than a 49th blend I don't like, because 49th almost makes their blends too bright for my liking.