Rocket Coffee Roasters' Excellent Experiment in a Northern Italian

[Trisha]

Rocket Coffee Roasters (Larry) asked if I'd be interested in field testing an adventure into trying to duplicate the lighter Northern Italian Roasts that, in tests there in the shop, had a consistent sweet spot at 195 degrees - would I be interested in a pound or two?

The pound of whole beans arrived Wednesday afternoon, in the midst of 9 inches of new snow and single-digit temperatures! I wasn't able to get to the mailboxes at the bottom of the hill until daylight Thursday, but the beans were pretty well insulated by bubble-wrap, and the valved bag itself showed a roast date of the 26th.

I packed up the whole espresso kit from home and headed out to Rescue Base to set up for whomsoever in emergency services or local business folks might have a few minutes free and stop by for a tast test via the espresso drink of their choice (single, double, cappa, mocha) in exchange for a little feedback.






(The swan cups are from a cafe in Florence, from my travels in 1972, and new Pointe cups were stranded in delivery by the snows, so I brought the best I had)

The radio traffic kept most folks busy, but a total of five did break away and the consensus - ordinary, non-fanatical espresso drinkers all. The consensus was a surprise at how the roasted beans themselves smelled - (one commented it somehow reminded her of tobacco); all found the shots themselves to have an intense, buttery smoothness.

Two requested cappas, one adding a little fair trade sugar. Both were shaken by how far above and beyond the coffees were to the palate in contrast to at best, *$'s. One felt the shot enhanced the sweetness of the straight cappa, precluding any interest in sugar.

The best results from the Elektra came with a coarser grind than my home roast, but still a medium tamp at most, with about a 12 second preinfusion producing about a one and a quarter ounce ristretto out of an unpacked double basket at about 20 seconds. I don't have pictures of the resultant cup from Thursday, as I had no room in the cab on my trusty F150 with everything else - so the Motorola V3m phone's camera was all I had to hand.

Too, it was 9 degrees out, and a bit breezy: I was a little nervy bringing the whole espresso kit out on such a day, but adventures add fresh seasoning, eh?

The now remaining 2/3 pound of beans are being farmed out to those few who are interested and there's a standing invitation to the usual caffeine driven sworn responders to drop by before the beans begin to flatten out.

I'll see if tomorrow I can add a picture of a shot, as the kit is back in place safe and sound and the weather is moderating enough that I have hopes of some natural lighting to aid me in composition.

Many thanks to Larry and the gang at Rocket Coffee Roasters for spending some money in risking their trial roast to a complete unknown non-professional enthusiast - it's been a sincere effort to bring out the best in the roast, and present it to the best of my limited skills!

Trisha

[Trisha]

Ah, the dish beneath the portafilter helped minimize the impact of taking the cup away at the instant of blonding, not to mention simplifying flushing shots!

I brought some of my home roast and the hand mill to answer a request to show what coffees an Elektra could make, beyond thick espresso. I've seen a fine grind (about french press, therebouts) tamped and packed, making a fairly light 12 second shot, and adding a little boiling water to a total of about 5 ounces, what I've thought of as an Americano of sorts.

Such was requested, as an aside, and promptly delivered - and the involuntary "That's one hell of a cup of coffee!" had me laughing.

Folks who live up here focus on necessities; most do very well to make ends meet comfortably, while having enough left over to go fishing or hunting when weather and other obligations permit (calving, foaling, baling, etc). The newer residents that see this area as an extended bedroom suburb of metro Denver participate very little in local stuff, and seem to prefer conducting most of their affairs down in the flats. Those who stay, but commute are adding a little light and life, though change often sees heels set solidly.

Espresso has only made inroads as far as *$'s and paper-cup condiment/treat status. Changing that comes with patience, and enough local acceptance that word spreads ("Psst! That espresso Trish makes? Bet even you would like it! She says she knows places they make it at least as good as hers, so we're going come Saturday!")

I kid you not.

It's fun!

[HB]

Thanks Trisha for sharing your story! I also have a Microcasa and wonder how you managed a chilly 195F brew temperature for more than one or two shots.

[grong]

Thanks for the fun description, Trisha. After reading, I ordered a pound of the light roast from Rocket Coffee Roasters, classic espresso. I usually roast at home, which makes it all that much more fun to try someone else's beans! I am guessing I will see the beans on Wednesday. Not much snow here to greet them in Northern California, but I did feel the smallish earthquake last evening.

[timo888]

Thanks Trisha for sharing your story! I also have a Microcasa and wonder how you managed a chilly 195F brew temperature for more than one or two shots.

Altitude.

[Trisha]

For those who wanted a cappa, it was a simple matter to let the pressure rise to 1.1 bar, switch off the power, steam the milk, and then with the pressure at about 4 bar pull a flushing shot and then immediately lock, and begin the preinfusion.

At the shot's completion, turn the power back on, and repeat the cycle.

Barometric pressure was low, too, though I didn't take STP measurements - rather I noted that the old WWII altimeter was reading close to 9,800 ft here at home (usually, it averages about 9,400 - 500 unless a low is coming in).

A note on the Rocket Coffee Roaster's sample: today, the beans are as flat as wallpaper. Nothing I could do made the cup anything but unimpressive. Maybe that's an effect of altitude? Could it be that coffees roasted at lower elevation (particularly light roasts, as they'd still be retaining more moisture than dark roasts) are more fragile up here?

It's beyond me (just a guess).

It was fun, though I don't doubt most any other afficianado could better my results with clearer and specific a review.

[Matthew Brinski]

A note on the Rocket Coffee Roaster's sample: today, the beans are as flat as wallpaper. Nothing I could do made the cup anything but unimpressive. Maybe that's an effect of altitude? Could it be that coffees roasted at lower elevation (particularly light roasts, as they'd still be retaining more moisture than dark roasts) are more fragile up here?

I wouldn't be so quick to give altitude that much credit in causing a difference in the coffee's extraction profile. I would be more apt to really be sure of what the actual brew temperature and pressure is. The more I use various espresso blends and SOs, the more I'm convinced that altitude is not a roadblock to espresso preparation ... but then again, you may also be right ... I can't say I'm absolutely sure.

[timo888]

A note on the Rocket Coffee Roaster's sample: today, the beans are as flat as wallpaper. Nothing I could do made the cup anything but unimpressive. Maybe that's an effect of altitude? Could it be that coffees roasted at lower elevation (particularly light roasts, as they'd still be retaining more moisture than dark roasts) are more fragile up here?

The crema is formed by CO2 trapped in the bean. Could the lower atmospheric pressure at your altitude cause the CO2 to leave the bean more rapidly than it would at sea-level?

Regards
Timo