Favorite espresso blend?

[philee]

hey everyone,

ive recently got into the whole coffee scene, so ive been trying different blends from various online roasters.

what is your favorite blend from what roaster, and why?

i have a package of the espresso classico from paradise roasters, and its quite interesting. sweet and candy-like. almost floral in aroma.

it seems as the most popular blends on hb are the intelly kid-o, black cat, and counter culture toscano.
any others?

[jgriff]

I think a lot of it depends on what is easily available to you. Intelligentsia is one of the sponsors of this site, and Counter Culture is close to where Dan Kehn (and probably others) lives. Personally, I've only had one shot of Black Cat, and that was from a vacuum-packed bag in someone's freezer. I am waiting on my order from Intelly that I placed as part of the HB 2nd-year birthday thing to arrive.

The blend I use the most is Stumptown's Hair Bender because they're local for me. If you look around a little bit, you'll see it mentioned quite often and it seems to be really popular with most people that are in to espresso. I'd like to try Counter Culture, but they're on the other side of the country and it seems like the beans would be starting to age by the time they got to me. I'm also interested in trying Paradise and Rocket roasters. Whatever you try, enjoy!

Justin

[lblampman]

So far I've tried Cafe Fresco Ambrosia and liked it. I've tried Chris' Coffee Black Peal and liked it. I've tried West Coast Roasters Torro and liked it. I've tried Cafe Vita and it was ok but I'm not certain how fresh the beans were. I've tried Black Cat decaf (just tonight)...delicious. I'm think I'm about worthless as a point of recommendation; I rarely meet an espresso I don't like (as long as it's made at home...I don't have the same luck at shops). I'm looking forward to tasting the Kid-O when I get done with the Black Cat (I got some regular too) and then maybe it's on to CCC Tuscano. Oh, and then there's Paradise Roasters...and then....

[gtrman]

...and then maybe it's on to CCC Tuscano. Oh, and then there's Paradise Roasters...and then....

I have a long list of about 30 coffees to try , prioritized...3-4 from all of the reputable roasters I could find.

[edwa]

A little closer to you than to me, Coffee Emergency is a worthy choice. They have a couple of different blends to try so see what matches your taste preferences. My preference was for their darker fuller bodied CBX. Their shipping, is great in fact I've gotten beans faster from them than roasters closer to where I live. Don't be hesitant to try some single origins. One of the most memorable and outstanding tastes has been their Yemen Mokha San'ani.

Cheers.

[mgwolf]

Since you're on the East Coast, check out Caffe Fresco, home of Ambrosia. I like their Daterra even better. Tony doesn't hose you on the shipping like some places do and has great coffee. Try the Daterra and Ambrosia. You'll probably get it in 2 days, before it's finished degassing. Michael

[philee]

caffe fresco sounds great. since im on the east coast, too, im planning on ordering some of their coffee.

thus far, in terms of shipping speed, ive had excellent results from paradise and ccc: 2 days! the only roaster that's taken me longer has been PT's Coffee in kansas. i bought from east timor maubesse from them, which got stale fairly quickly, despite my putting it into an airtight bodum container in a "cool and dry" place.

what exactly is daterra reserve? it seems so popular.

[jrtatl]

I'm partial to Fresco's Bello Blend. I find it a bit brighter than the Ambrosia, and a bit more complex than the Daterra. Just my $0.02.

My favorite blend, however, is hard to peg. I like Counter Culture's El Salvador Finca Mauritania (not really a blend). I like Counter Culture's Espresso La Forza.

I love Classico Coffee's Verona Blend, but Jason is not currently accepting new orders.

I find the aroma of Coffee Emergency's Code Brown irresistible.

Every once in a while, I like the Espresso Delight from Mitalena.

[timo888]

... they're on the other side of the country and it seems like the beans would be starting to age by the time they got to me.

Many roasts need up to a week to rest after roast, so I would not rule out a roaster on the opposite coast--especially if they ship USPS Priority.

Regards
Timo

[dr_doppio]

I share Les' problem (the one about liking most espresso blends I've tried). My 3 favorites are Black Cat, Hairbender and Ecco Caffe's Traditional Northern Italian Blend. Last week, my 3 favorites were ... Well, you get the idea.

[cannonfodder]

Any of the HB sponsors produce excellent coffees. We only allow a select group of sponsors that meet our standards. Some have inquired about sponsorship but been turned down because their product did not make the grade. I would recommend any of the roasters that advertise here. In addition to them, I have a fondness for Redline from Metropolis Coffee. Where BlackCat is dark and deep in flavor, Redline is bright, fruited and light.

[philee]

interesting.
thanks everyone for the replies.
i really, really like ccc's la golondrina microlot. its a sweet, fruity coffee, a taste i seem to have acquired in the past few weeks.
the paradise classico is good too, but not my personal favorite.

im thinking about trying the ccc toscano next, and perhaps the black cat to see what all the hype is about.
and thanks timo about the shipping tip. im interested in trying some coffee from rocket coffee roasters, but i was fretting over shipping times, which is foolish considering the fact that most coffees need at least 4 days of degasing/breathing time to hit their peak.

[Bushrod]

I'm not having much luck with the Black Cat I just got. I mainly drink small milk drinks, though. Does it usually not hold up well to milk?

My coffee of choice is CCC Toscano. I love it and am lucky to be able to pick up a bag locally that is within 4 days of roasting!

[P-Train]

I live in Chicago, so I am partial to Intelligentsia Black Cat. We also have a Peet's store here, and their Espresso La Forza is quite nice. I have also brewed the Peet's Major Dickason's Blend as an Espresso shot.

[jgriff]

I'm not having much luck with the Black Cat I just got. I mainly drink small milk drinks, though. Does it usually not hold up well to milk?

My coffee of choice is CCC Toscano. I love it and am lucky to be able to pick up a bag locally that is within 4 days of roasting!

Why are you not having much luck? What is it doing? This past week I pulled my first shots of Black Cat after placing an order (thanks to HB's 2nd b-day specials) and I've been loving it! The very first shot was really yummy. It has changed some since then with age, and perhaps my palate has become accustomed to it so I'm noticing different flavors, but it's still pretty remarkable to me. And it does seem very forgiving to me (compared to Hair Bender, my normal blend). I've loved the shots and cappas I've had, I've received rave reviews from guests and my girlfriend loves her Americano.

So again, what is wrong with the extractions?

Justin

[Bushrod]

I think I'm mainly just having dosing/grind/distribution/problems. I'm getting really uneven extraction with my Silvia. I'm grinding to 11 on the Rocky DL with two scoops of beans. 12 is too fast and 10 or 9 is too slow.

I moved from the bottomless/triple to the bottomless/stock double basket this morning. Tasted a lot better. I think I'll try to dose it some more tonight. It goes blond pretty quickly on the right side.

I guess it's kinda hard to describe.

[jgriff]

I think I'm mainly just having dosing/grind/distribution/problems. I'm getting really uneven extraction with my Silvia. I'm grinding to 11 on the Rocky DL with two scoops of beans. 12 is too fast and 10 or 9 is too slow.

How much volume are you getting from your shots and how long does it take?

I moved from the bottomless/triple to the bottomless/stock double basket this morning. Tasted a lot better. I think I'll try to dose it some more tonight. It goes blond pretty quickly on the right side.

I think that is a good move. I've had a hard time getting even extraction with the triple basket. You might want to continue using the bottomless PF so you can see if you are still having problems, though. I think there is a slight taste difference between the naked and a regular PF and prefer the stock model, but the naked is good for checking your extractions. It definitely sounds like you have some distribution problems if the flow is blonding in one area very quickly. If you haven't already, you might check out the Tamp and Dose Techniques Digest. There's a lot of useful information there. Many people are fans of the Weiss Distribution Technique (WDT for short). Personally, I've used it some but prefer to use a quicker method and practice to get consistent results. Best of luck!

Justin

[Bushrod]

Grinding on 10, it takes almost a minute to get around 2 ounces. Most of the flow is from the blonded right side though.

The funny thing is that I'm dosing, distributing and tamping the same as with the Toscano! It's just not coming out as well.

[jgriff]

Grinding on 10, it takes almost a minute to get around 2 ounces. Most of the flow is from the blonded right side though.

The funny thing is that I'm dosing, distributing and tamping the same as with the Toscano! It's just not coming out as well.

It takes a full minute to pull a 2 oz. shot? If that's what you're saying, that's way too long by almost anyone's standards! Or are you saying it takes that long to grind?

I've found that different coffees to require me to modify my routine. Do you pay close attention to how much headspace is between the top of the puck and the dispersion screen? You don't want so much coffee in the basket that it touches the screen, and my results suggest that it's best to leave a little room. I think this is especially true with Miss Silvia, but I don't have personal experience.

[Bushrod]

Oops, that's 1 minute to extract. Grinding is normal.

I think I'm just having trouble dialing it in is all. I'm gonna hit it some more tonight when I get home.

Headspace is pretty good. I get the screw impression, but only after the puck expands during extraction.

(Sorry for the threadjack!)