I don't always agree with Tom, especially on espresso; but on this Guat his opinion

In terms of this great balance of cup qualities, this is the expression of Bourbon cultivar all the way. Which also makes it my current favorite for SO espresso. It is incredible as espresso; lemon-zested chocolate velvet!

is spot on. This one is in goat dance territory, a striking and memorable shot.

Ah, thanks for the testimonial, I've been looking at picking up another Central American and I believe this will be it.

I bought this on the first round of release. Great stuff. Highly recommend.

I picked up 5lbs about a month ago but have only roasted it for vac pot so far. At a City+ roast it made some excellent siphon brew. Guess it's time to try my luck with an espresso roast.

Jim - Did you stop at Full City or take it into 2C?

I used my light espresso roast, stopped when I start smelling some darker caramels and distillates, usually about three to five C below the first pops of the second. This gives a wonderful fruit smoothie taste.

I'm going to try for Bourbon almonds next time, by slowing down a minute to the first crack, then finishing at a higher ET, going faster and darker, to the first pops of the second. This is not as extreme as the Diedrich profile, but does balance the flavor more towards nuts and away from fruit. This one is such a fruit bomb, that this approach may work.

I picked up 5lbs to practice with. Im overflowing with greens now, but this sounds nice and different.

Coming home from Maui with 9 lbs of various west Maui beans tomorrow as well. I'm running out of places to store all these beans.

Holiday trade for bay area locals?

Post what you're willing to trade away, say 3 various one pound bags of greens in another thread?

Maybe I'll get that started when I get home.

I've used SDBV many times - both as a SO and as part of several blends. It's always performed stellar as an espresso.

I usually take it to the darker end of City+, it yields warm aromatic spice with hints of apple and vanilla floral notes, caramel to malt sweetness throughout.