A new blend from Sweet Maria's!

I hope no one will accuse me of damning Tom with faint praise, but it was something of a Pyhrric victory to see this New Classic Espresso blend appear. I was and still am the biggest fan of the Espresso Workshop blends. The idea of using what is available and making the best blend possible from that, of not compromising the blend when the component bean supply runs out -- it seems so right. And the results speak for themselves. Incredible coffee!

Yet, with each new blend... with each new ultra-bright, razor-edged high-toned blend, I would ask Tom: "Hey, I love all this bright clean cup obsession and all, but how about a nice old-fashioned mellow cup?" Well, I got my wish, I guess, in the form of the New Classic Espresso blend. Still, somehow, it seems a bit of a slight that it is not a Workshop blend. It struck me that this flavor profile, lacking the star quality of bright high-toned fruit, was somehow not worth as much, that it could be compromised easily to keep the blend going.

Well, I don't know. Maybe, I should try it first and see.

I'll certainly look forward to others' reports on this blend. Let's hope it is a winner.

I roasted some last night. 10 oz. Behmor P3C (setting 1lb). 18:30 total time (outlet current 115 - I think) (subtracted 3 minutes before start button) Perhaps hit the beginnings of second crack: looks pretty good - got to let it rest.

Howard

Roasted my 1st batch last week in a hottop about a 12 minute roast to FC+. I let it rest for 3-1/2 days. I pulled shots from my Appia and every one had a sourness? My machine consistently runs at 202F, but I played around with different doses and couldn't seem to hit the mark. Maybe it needed more rest or a higher brew temp? I just finished roasting the 2nd batch yesterday and I took it a little bit longer into 2C (more Vienna-like). Ill give it a good 4 days and see what difference it makes.

I just noticed the NC the other day and have some on the way. Im very much looking forward to it as I hope its a 'keeper' as ive missed a few of the Workshops as shipping changes add up fast when ones only orders a few lbs of greens.

in the past Ive personally referenced my various blends and even the Workshops to the Classic Classic Espresso blend: its easier for me to judge "Better", "Not quite as smooth" etc rather than to use terms I really don't understand until I take a Class at SMaria's Tom pointing out:

"Term ..." is this cup etc.

anyway Im also very happy with my newer set up as it offers control I didn't have with my Silvia

Id very much like to hear what people think of the NC and I hope people might be able to refer to both the "crack" but also a final temp reading between the beans

I have a lot of trouble with the cracks on my iRoast2. the long Cooper temp probe through the top of the roaster has been a big big help to me for personal consistency.

cheers!

I tried one espresso, this morning, of Saturday evenings Behmor roast of the S.M.'s "New Classic Espresso" with my Elektra Semiautomtica. Tasted good (not descriptive, I know - I will say though, sweet, not sour: I think the temp. on my machine is fairly high.)

Howard

With the darker roast the sourness disappeared, but the shots are just too mild for my liking. It's not at all the way I remember the previous Italian blend. My machine stabilizes around 202F-203F and despite how it's flushed it's very tricky to get it higher or lower than that. Maybe the blend is just not suitable for that temp range? Any suggestions?

I roasted this New Classic Espresso Blend just into the first snaps of second crack. After resting for three days, it was without good body or distinctive character, more of a hollow shell with a conspicuous absence of flavor. There were no sharp or wild flavors that needed to mellow with more rest, but the question was whether deep flavors could develop with time. And they did!

Five days of rest, and the coffee is amazing, with rich, sweet, nutty flavors, and very good body, and a smooth persistent finish.

grong wrote:I roasted this New Classic Espresso Blend just into the first snaps of second crack. After resting for three days, it was without good body or distinctive character, more of a hollow shell with a conspicuous absence of flavor. There were no sharp or wild flavors that needed to mellow with more rest, but the question was whether deep flavors could develop with time. And they did!

Five days of rest, and the coffee is amazing, with rich, sweet, nutty flavors, and very good body, and a smooth persistent finish.

Yeah, but does it topple Ophiolite in terrific-ness?

Yeah, but does it topple Ophiolite in terrific-ness?

I just can't say, as I have missed Ophiolite!

After six days of rest the concentration is dissipating, with flavors starting to go their own way, leaving a lot of openness in the cup. As with many of the new, clean espresso single origins and blends, this new blend appears very sensitive to aging.

Time to roast a new batch today.

Okay, well I bought it and I roasted it.

The beans were roasted a bit darker than usual, allowing the roast to extend about ten seconds into Second Crack, watching the temperature as always, after which the drum was removed immediately from the Behmor and the beans cooled with ambient air around 21 degrees C. The beans had a nice dark uniform color. We sampled the beans over the course of the next few days, preferring a rest period of 72 hours to allow de-gassing. The dose was kept at 15 grams and the grind adjusted to achieve a 25 second extraction, with the optimal temperature with these settings being around 96 degrees C.

The resultant cup had a rich reddish crema but seemed very "closed-up" flavor-wise. There was little if any aroma and while the cup had a satisfyingly rich texture and thickness upon the tongue, there was little flavor of which to speak.

In comparison to Ophiolite, it is the opposite, lacking the delicious sweetness and rich flavors.

In comparison to Breccia, it is ham-fisted. Where Breccia's quietude seemed purposeful and graceful, New Classic seems at once to be holding out and lacking anything to say.

This blend is quite benign. Not nearly as bitter as the old blend, but not dynamic or exciting either. It achieves its goal of being a standard baseline of espresso blends, a generic shapeless "everyman" of espresso blends.