http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2011/1...o_itse.php

an interesting read...

And Carlo has a great eye for beautiful art. The Mr. Espresso posters by David Lance Goines are classics. Here's mine:



Others here (for sale): http://www.goines.net/poster_art.html.

Has anyone tried some of their espresso and could comment on it?

..

TomC wrote:Dr.Gary has some 411 on them.

Paging Dr.Gary......

Man, this doctor thing has gotten out of hand. I adopted that handle tongue-in-cheek as I was getting into practice and Dr. Phil was all over the airwaves. Anyway, back on topic...

I stopped by their cafe on Montgomery Street a few weeks ago and was impressed by the equipment but served an off-temperature shot and didn't know whether it was the coffee or the new crew or just a bad moment. I posted a Yelp review. Soon Luigi Di Ruocco, one of the founder's sons, contacted me and we began a dialog. I found I was dealing with a different philosophy of roasting, so I pulled my review, especially since this is a chance to learn from one of the old-school pioneers of the San Francisco espresso scene. Luigi soon sent me some beans to try at home with brew parameters. I've since been able to dial in their Golden Gate Espresso Blend on my PID'd Amica and it's a puzzler because it's drinkable over a wide range of temperatures and needs to be pulled very hot. I've pulled some nice shots, much better than what I tried in their cafe. Soon I'll try their darker Neapolitan Espresso Blend. But Luigi says their coffees are fresh for about a month, and their packaging suggests refrigerating it. I've shared my puzzlement about the temperature range and such with him and find the Golden Gate blend very different from the third-wave roasts I've been drinking that are so much less forgiving. So as part of our dialog, he's invited me to stop by, has offered to answer my questions and pull some shots of their espresso to help me dial it in. I'll enjoy the visit and am ready to learn.

If you look at their site, http://mrespresso.com/ this place has been around a long time. Their dad has imported many classic machines and has been part of the espresso scene around here since the 1970s. They roast in what they consider to be the Italian tradition, something they learned from a master roaster in Italy. Their process involves roasting with oak wood with the belief that the moist smoke maintains more lipids in the beans. Roasting is such an arcane art and I'm so new to it, I just don't know. I've seen some very precise guidelines on this site, but just last week read that all of those rules have been stood on their head by the Scandinavian style of roasting. Now there's a chance to learn something about the Italian tradition.

So here's a family that's grown a very successful business bringing the art of espresso to many San Francisco Bay Area restaurants, and beyond. I'm more than a fan of third-wave coffee and have become fascinated by its Italian roots. I've enjoyed meeting some of those who've been involved in introducing that tradition into this country, including Christopher Cara who continues his father's pioneering business and Carl at The Good Coffee Company in Seattle that predates Starbucks and still serves shots off of the beautifully maintained Faema Termazona in their shop.

I'm enjoying learning about this whole coffee scene and the different ways to roast and prepare quality coffees. My taste buds seem to work and I know there are many ways to cook. As a former technical writer, I'm fine with learning by asking beginner's questions. So we'll chat over coffee, I'll absorb every bit I can, and I'll report back to you all.

oconee wrote:Has anyone tried some of their espresso and could comment on it?

I'll comment briefly before giving it a more thorough tasting. I've tried their Neapolitan and Golden Gate blends. The Neapolitan Espresso appears to be a Full City + and the Golden Gate a City +. The Golden Gate is organic. My overall impression is that these are soft, low acid coffees that retain flavors of the underlying varietals that go into the blends, but the flavor notes are more subdued than the coffees we are used to, and these blends may be more forgiving. Luigi Di Ruocco mentioned to me that there's aging involved. Also their roasting method is different. So maybe the aging and a slower, moister roast achieve this different balance that may be more typical of an Italian style of roasting. My one shot of Neapolitan this morning was mellow and chocolatey with a mild finish of floral spice and an aftertaste of bittersweet chocolate. The Golden Gate was also mild at the start and if I'm remembering correctly offered milk chocolate with stronger floral overtones but I'll have to refresh my taste of that. Neither one of these leaves an aftertaste of leathery flavors that I frequently find in third wave roasts. Soon I'll visit their place and Luigi will offer me some reference shots, so I'll wait until then to say more. My tasting gear this morning was a pre-Millennium La Pavoni Europiccola for the Neapolitan, and I've dialed in my Isomac Amica for their Golden Gate blend. Both were paired with a Rio Super Jolly grinder. But these won't offer the nuance of their gear. In their cafe they use a La Marzocco Strada paired with a Mazzer Robur grinder.

I met Carlo in the mid-eighties, when I was researching an article on why the espresso served up in the Bay Area was so bad. At the time I had a Quick Mill machine, which I later replaced with a Rancilio Contessa (then an ECM Giotto), and I really liked the espresso blend.

At some point, probably in the nineties, I started buying other coffee and finding that I preferred it. I just wasn't getting the body and crema I was looking for, not did I like the taste. At some point I was told that they were instructing clients that 15 seconds was the proper time for a shot. I was mystified by this, as I'm a 30 second+ risretto kind of guy. I also came to think it was really bizarre that their espresso blend was called Neapolitan, because I've been to Naples three times, and there was nothing Neapolitan about the Mr. Espresso blend.

I wrote Mr. Espresso's coffee off, though I have continued to have my machines serviced there, and have always enjoyed dealing with Alex.

A few years ago I had to switch to decaf due to health considerations. When I took my Giotto in for general maintenance a few months ago, Luigi made me a decaf macchiato that was excellent and left me with a much better impression of their coffee. (I didn't think to time the extraction, but it had to have been more than 15 seconds.) I shouldn't say this on this forum but I think John has a point re super light, high acid coffees, but then I only drink espresso and decaf espresso at that, so l shouldn't even be commenting.

I also think there's a place for coffees that are more forgiving when prepared as espresso, because, let's face it, it's going to be a long time before your typical neighborhood cafe has really knowledgeable baristas.

Thank you for your comments on their coffee. I am always interested in different types of coffees for espresso and may purchase some of theirs. Their history is certainly very interesting. I would suppose that their blends contain some amount of robusta? Perhaps this is one reason they might stay usable longer?