Hi folks.

I haven't been an espresso geek for a long time, but much like my other hobbies, I tend to get involved from the ground up... so it was natural for me to get involved in roasting, blending, and because I'm not senior VP / partner / wealthy heir, it's also natural for me to do it as reasonably as possible.

I very much understand the fascination with the gear, and can grasp why certain gear would be more suited to certain needs. What I don't understand is why certain coffees may be grouped as "suitable for espresso".

Are the coffees that don't get the rubber stamp are generally... what? Too flavourful? Too weak? Not complex enough or too complex? I've read (and tested it myself) that if you don't like a coffee when it's conventionally brewed, you won't like it in an espresso... and that seems to work for me. But then what about all the fine coffees that get glowing reviews for the flavour in the cup for brewed coffee, but no espresso chop of approval?

One thing that I can say: I'm new enough that I still don't have a holy grail in mind when I'm roasting and blending and tasting my espressos. Each roast with different beans gives a somewhat of a different flavour profile, but they've all been good, and I haven't tired of sampling different varieties.

Should I be brave, then, and step outside the recommendations of the seasoned experts at Sweet Maria's and other companies? Try an XYZ lot from JuanCarlo del Torrrro Finca Muy Magnifico even if somebody with more experience hasn't labeled it as "suitable for espresso"?

I appologize if this comes up all the time... couldn't find anything related to this in the FAQs or searches. Please let me know of any previous threads that would be relevant that I may have missed.

Thanks for any info anybody may care to share,

-Scot

Brew the coffee; let it cool. If it tastes distinctly sweet, sweeter than sour or bitter, it is suitable for espresso. Some dry coffees work too; but it is more of a crap shoot

another_jim wrote:Brew the coffee; let it cool. If it tastes distinctly sweet, sweeter than sour or bitter, it is suitable for espresso. Some dry coffees work too; but it is more of a crap shoot

Fair enough. So the coffees that are recommended for espresso may be sweeter than others. Is sour or bitter a sought-after quality in regular brewed coffee, however?

I suppose the obvious answer is "try a few pounds of different coffees not recommended for espresso and see what you think". I guess what I'd like to know is why people put a box around these, so I can figure out how to constructively think outside of that box, rather than just blunder blindly through it!

-Scot

It seems to me that the trouble with using some coffees as espresso is that espresso is very concentrated so all the flavours become amplified. So what might be say a coffee with a bright refreshing acidity when brewed could cause you to make a really sour face when you sip it as espresso.

So a coffee that tastes very smooth and sweet when brewed is definitely easier to handle as espresso.

I don't think there are any hard rules though...but some coffees are definitely harder to handle as espresso than others.

MontrealScot wrote: Is sour or bitter a sought-after quality in regular brewed coffee, however?

Um, almost everything that is appreciated about coffee is a bitter or sour flavor, or an aroma associated with these flavors -- sugar is 50 cents a pound, good coffee around $15; the difference is the sour and bitter flavors.

The easiest coffees to work with for espresso extraction have good Balance. Hence blends exist. That said I don't know of any good coffee roasted well and properly rested that can't make a decent to good to great espresso, including the wildest SL-28 Kenya or brightest WP Yirgs etc. The wilder coffees can indeed be much less forgiving requiring much more skill to keep your hair from standing on end as a straight shot. Grind, dose, shot time, shot volume/weight, shot temp become much more critical.

Don't be afraid to experiment. If a pull is just too over the top bright straight try adding an ounce or so of hot water for a mini-Americano and you may be amazed. (At our cafes we offer double shot 3oz Americanos we call an Italiano) Or make a mach' or cap', crazy wild coffees can make crazy good traditional milk espresso beverages! Every coffee I roast can be and is brewed via espresso extraction.

And you can tame wilder coffees to be more forgiving targeted for espresso via the roast, but I don't anymore.

i'm sure the more experienced ones on this forum navigate their coffees with ease and intuition. however, i find it still perplexing after a decade plus of coffee/espresso from a more casual perspective. for example, i went to a local roaster/shop and had what i felt was a terrific SO from costa rica. i bought some and really enjoyed it. when it ran out, i found some freshly roasted whole foods costa rican (non-SO presumably) looking for a similar experience only to be treated to shot after shot of bad coffee... sour, bitter, you name it. but to me, they smelled close enough (albeit from memory and unground). chalk it up to experience.

at some point, i think i forgot how to enjoy the coffee.

another_jim wrote:Brew the coffee; let it cool. If it tastes distinctly sweet, sweeter than sour or bitter, it is suitable for espresso. Some dry coffees work too; but it is more of a crap shoot

Advice like this, really helps novices like me. It's easy, and will be a fair enough starting point when I start blending again for espresso.

Thanks for the responses, folks!

Since people seem to be going cucoo for cocoa puffs for fresh roasted real coffee here, I've actually had lots of folks tell me they want me to roast for them. 1 pound of greens will fill up a 1-litre Mason jar with about 30 or 40 grams of roasted beans left over... enough for me to try a couple of double-shots worth! Seems pretty win-win to me.

Looking forward to the 9 different greens I ordered from SM's the other day... some on their "recommended for espresso" list, and some not. It'll be a great learning experience for me.

I'll go back to mostly lurk and read mode now...

Cheers!

-Scot