Ecco Experimental Espresso Club #2

[EccoScott]

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Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to announce the release of the 2nd Experimental Espresso from Ecco Caffé. This blend has some very unique flavors in it. I get a wonderful juicy peach out of this blend. We will be roasting this coffee for online orders on April 23, 2008.

I hope you all are having a wonderful April!

Scott
Ecco Caffé

[HB]

Next Wednesday is the roast date for Experimental Espresso #2. Last week Scott kindly sent me a sample to preview it.

The first round was last Friday at our regular espresso get-together using a Super Jolly and La Marzocco FB-80 set to Ecco Caffe's recommended 202F. It may have been a bit early for the blend, since some tasters commented it was quite bright, an attribute that was replaced by chocolate almond sweetness a few days later. The enclosed description mentions the blend ratio: 65% Brazil Cachoiera Screen Dried and 35% 2007 Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Konga Cooperative. I expected the Yirgacheffe would impart distinct floral notes, but it was more subdued. One of the attendees explained it was because the Yirgacheffe was a washed process coffee as evidenced by the color of the split in the beans.

After a few espresso dominated by chocolate with orange overtones, I prepared a few cappuccinos. The first was a largish volume, around six ounces of milk, which squashed the interest out of the drink. Pulled into a tulip shaped cappuccino cup and served with a more proportioned four ounces of milk, milk chocolate, peaches and florals came to the forefront. It was one the best cappuccinos I've had in months.

In the days that followed, I tried the blend on an E61 / Super Jolly pair and Elektra Semiautomatica / Mazzer Robur pair. The brightness we noted last Friday was almost absent; I attribute the change to the added days of rest and a slightly higher brew temperature (I allow the brew temperature to spike slightly by pausing after the flush a couple extra seconds; it's a neat way to "tune" the taste profile).

Experimental Espresso #2 is a delicate blend. Neither of the components dominate and in milk they play nicely against each others' strengths. It responds predictably to manipulations in dosage and temperature. Ecco Caffe recommends 18 grams and a 1.75 ounce espresso; you can pull a tighter ristretto if you prefer, but in that case try lowering the temperature to avoid an orange peel finish.

[roblumba]

It's funny that the thing I remember the most was the striking scent of berries in my kitchen, even long after pulling shots. I had let the lb sit for a few days even before tasting it. So I used it from day 4-7. The top of the espresso had a nice light crema that changed into heavier body and finally very sweet towards the bottom. I tried stirring it up and it had a nice sweetness to the entire shot with still plenty left on the bottom. The Ethiopian sweetness was an incredible fruity sweetness with the fruity aroma very strong. Try rubbing the reside of the espresso cup on your hands so you can smell it longer.

I must admit that I had such a busy week that I forgot that I was drinking the EEC #2 coffee until now. I was a little lazy and didn't try moving the temperature or dosage. I stuck with 201.5 and around 20-21 grams for the entire week. I did share with some neighbors and one commented that she had not been liking coffee lately and said it's because she hasn't been drinking good coffee at home.

It did very well in Latte's and Cappa's. Even if pulled a little long, it seemed to be very robust. I couldn't pick out peaches and cream like others. I really do need to expand my taste vocabulary. It was just consistently delicious. Some of the best latte's I made all year. Paired extremely well with the Monin Vanilla Syrup or the Torani Vanilla Syrup.

Anyhow, I'm sad to see my lb is gone. I would have loved to have it more regularly to really play around and live with it for a while. It was really nice.

[OlywaDave]

We actually got to our Experimental #2 later than expected here at Espresso Parts. It was catalog time I was more than slammed and Terry was busy busy as usual, so we ended up enjoying ours from day 5 to day 7 I believe. All of us here thought it was awesome. I even got to take some around to other leading coffee folk in Oly and it got great reviews all across the board there too.

The work Ecco is putting into every detail very impressive. I especially loved the blend note card and the brew parameters details were terrific. Temp, volume, times and even basket style and size. My kind of folks.