Classico Coffee Roaster company - Verona Espresso Blend

[jesawdy]

Hey all-

Early this week, I caught glimpse of an HB special in the banner ad for Classico Coffee Roaster Company, so I decided to give the Verona Espresso Blend a whirl. FYI - Jason Casale, poster here and more so on CG, is the man responsible for Classico. The deal is "Double It", so your order quantity is doubled.... so, I got a pound for the price of 1/2 lb, plus shipping. Go get you some. (Jason hints of an even better deal via an email exchange, keep your eyes peeled for that banner ad).

Their website is http://www.classicocoffee.com

The Verona is http://www.classicocoffee.com/proddetail.php?prod=VeronaExpressoCoffee&cat=7 (also available green for you roasters out there)

Coffee arrived Friday, Aug 11th via USPS, roast date of August 8th.

Jason has some brew recommendations on the bag, 201-203 F, 8.2-8.5 bar, triple or double basket, 18-21 grams, 25-30 sec for 1.5 ounces. Okay, I can measure some of that... for the brew temp I know I need to bump my PID on Silvia a bit, pressure I'm out, weight okay, double basket, time and volume no problem. Did I measure any of that though, nah! I'm working towards Zen and less Geek these days.

So far, I've pulled a normale (about 2.5 ounces), a latte, two ristrettos, an Americano and a cappuccino. All in a LM ridgeless double (I haven't ventured into triple territory yet). The last two weeks, I've been pulling in a naked PF, I had gotten out of the habit, so that's what I was using. For the ristrettos, I just really packed it in, I was touching the shower screen on lock in a bit.

Well, it's all good. I'm saying caramel, a little chocolate, cinnamon and just a hint of cardamom. The ristrettos were very nice and really the first ristretto pulls that I was proud of, I'm getting about 1-1.25 ounces in 25-30 secs. On many shot's I was getting the "mega-cone" effect and crema bubbles a bit larger than typical for me.

Tomorrow. I'll try it in a lever.

I invite you to check it out, or comment if you've tried it already.

-Jeff

[another_jim]

I've had the chance to try Jason's blends in a few iterations as he refined his roasting parameters; and I think the result is excellent. Verona is a classic profile Northern blend with a balanced, very integrated character and quite sweet overall. I've found tha longer pulls tend to taste pleasantly sharp, like wintergreen almost, whereas the shorter pulls tend to more roasty nut and spice flavors.

To be honest, I was quite surprised. I was expecting a fairly brash, Vivace style blend from Jason; and got this very understated, classic Italian blend instead. All in all, a nice surprise, at least for my personal taste.

[Abe Carmeli]

I find it best as a triple 1.5 oz in 25-27 seconds. It is a balanced and sweet blend with understated nuts & dry fruit. The monsooned malbar is just a hint, and does not overpower the cup. It reminded me of Dolce, but only in a very broad category sense. It has its own distinct character, it is not as temperature sensitive and is much easier to work with. 201-203f worked well for me.

[cannonfodder]

I have been pulling at 200-201ish with a 17 gram dose, 1.75oz in 29-31 seconds (which includes a 6 second 3bar preinfuse). It makes a good traditional cappa as well. It cuts through the milk with authority.

[jesawdy]

(Jason hints of an even better deal via an email exchange, keep your eyes peeled for that banner ad).

Check out the new banner ad... no reason not to try it now. Got mine Friday, need to pull one!

-Jeff

[RapidCoffee]

The Verona arrived and it's delightful. A fairly light roast for espresso, clean and well-balanced in the cup. Website notes: "Shots are best if pulled short no more than 1 1/2 ounces 25 to 30 second extraction times." Hmmm, dunno about that.



..... 40ml and still going strong ....................... 60ml tasted darn good ......................... most importantly, Bella gave it her seal of approval .....

A very enjoyable blend. I'm curious to see how my home roast will compare.

Thanks again - John

[Ken Fox]

My bag of Verona Espresso Blend, roasted 9/11/2006, arrived on 9/14, at 3 days old. I've been enjoying it since with shots pulled on 9/15 and today, 9/16, at the 5 days old now. The beans now show no evidence of any oil whatsoever, so Jason is roasting a tiny bit lighter than is my normal, where I start to get a few tiny oil splotches on day 3, 4 or 5. I will be able to pull a few more double shots the next couple of days so if my opinions change I'll update this post.

I'm not as good with the descriptive cupping verbiage as many others here. So far I am finding the coffee to be very enjoyable, especially in milk. I've had a total of 5 double shots so far, extracted at around 202F. The beans are still showing signs of frothiness in the espresso, a sign of their youth.

The blend cuts through milk very cleanly and I actually like it better in milk than I do my (now standard) MAO Harrar Horse Single Origin. As a straight shot I get nicely balanced chocolate flavors, which I think will improve in the next couple of days, with no bitterness; the in-milk performance may be better early on and as the beans peak the straight shots become the best a couple of days later. I liked today's straight shot better than yesterday's.

I'm not a Schomer fan but even though Jason may feel he is a disciple of Schomer, he has certainly come up with a better blend than any of Schomer's blends that I've tried.

Bravo!

ken

[jrtatl]

Wow, what a surprise. Great blend. Nice, light roast. No surface oil after 5 days post roast.

Chocolate flavors predominate with a normale. The ristretto shots are tangy -- in a good way.

Crema monster. Crema won't stop. Drowning in crema.....

[peacecup]

WOW, the Cafe Verona looks great! I just posted an order for a free 1/2 lb. The website worked fine, except it would not accept Alaska as a state (not surprising!). We are indeed, a US state, although somewhat larger and wilder. The long, dark nights that are beginning to settle upon us beg for espresso.

Peace,

PC

[serenewu]

Jason sent me the Verona at 09/22/2006, and arrival on 09/25/2006. I opened it and made a shot today. I used Fiorenzato Bricoletta and grinder is Super Jolly. Double Basket and Bottomless Portafilter.
I would say that this Espresso Blend Crema is so strong and smell very pleasant.

And it tastes good, very impressive.
Thanks Janson

[Shutterman]

I've, sadly, just finished my pound of Verona that that I'd ordered through Jason's incredible special offer, and I wish to add my voice to the others in this thread who've sung the praises of this wonderful blend.

This coffee took me completely by surprise. Given the usual praises that one reads here (usually, deservingly so) about so many wonderful coffees available these days, I expected to be greeted with a good cup, but I was totally unprepared for the outstanding sensual assault my taste buds experienced from this blend.

It has such an understated character, that one is quickly seduced by it's charms before realizing it. While I certainly do not have the discerning palette that some of the names in this thread have, I know enough to know when I've tasted something special. It is sweet, slightly nutty, without a hint of bitterness as a straight shot.

In my somewhat limitted experience at making home espresso, this is the best I've had yet. It reminds me of shots that I would get at some of the great cafes in Italy, and makes me glad that I finally decided to try my hand at brewing my own.

This blend is a definite winner in my book. I can't wait for my next order!

-Dean

[peacecup]

Jason very graciously sent a 1/2# of the Verona blend to Juneau. It arrived in three days, so it was still very fresh. I've been meaning to video some pulls, but time has been an enemy lately, so I thought I'd better just post my thanks. The Verona blend is lighter than my usual Heritage Cafe Espresso, and most other espresso blends I've tried. It produces lots of crema, even with the lever machine.

I just pulled a pair of really great first espressi of the day:

8:00 AM, sunrise over Auke Bay Harbor, Alaska, under partly cloudy skies
Ponte Vecchio Export lever machine
50+ year-old conical burr hand grinder (ground coffee smells of Middle Eastern spice)
~15 g
~30+ sec extraction, ~1.0 oz. ristretto
Perlman and Barenboim, Mozart Sonata in F major for violin and piano

The first shot was ground very finely - I had to stand on the lever with all my weight to coax out an oz. of espresso. It was almost all crema. The second was faster, but still only 1 oz. and mostly crema. These were 8-days post roast, so that's a lot of crema for the lever machine. These were both on the cool side for the lever machine - not sure how they fall into the 201-203 F range listed on the bag, but I suspect they were right in there.

The mouthfeel of these ristrettos is difficult to describe- almost akin to the 80% cocoa dark Lindt chocolate I've had. I'm not much of a taster, but I'm getting a bright snap, followed by this chocolatey finish, all wrapped up in this chewiness....

Thanks Jason!

PC

[stevendouglas]

Jason still has the free 1/2 pound Verona Espresso on the website, so I ordered mine last week and it arrived on Friday (three days post roast).

I tried my first pull this morning, and 3 doubles and 4 cappuccinos later, I can say with authority that this stuff is FABULOUS! As others have noted, the crema won't stop...just a long cone of crema flowing like honey out of the portafilter. And, what Verona does with milk should not be allowed. I don't have a lot of experience, but I can honestly say that I've never had anything sweeter or better.

Steve