I prepared this as espresso primarily with an Elektra Microcasa a Leva paired with a Pharos grinder or a Fiorenzato Doge. Both are large conicals. As with my review of #1 I share my impressions as it starts to open up, hits peak and starts to fade. Since I sourced this coffee for review mine is not a blind tasting.

Day 4 post roast: As espresso, pulled ristretto, balanced sweet and sour. Started to hint at florals/citrus.

As pourover very smooth, acidity provides structure. There's a nice sweet/sour, a touch of astringency. In the espresso the subtle flavors reside behind the sweetness. As pourover it's straightforward and may need more time to age and open up. Method was 199F with initial 30 second wetting to bloom, 16 gm coffee, Driver filter, 10 oz/142gm water by weight.

Day 5: Opening up very nicely. On the Elektra Microcasa a Leva, slight double pump. Sweet and sour, then strong cherry taste lingers. Finish morphs to mild tobacco and peanut after several minutes. The catch cup left on the drip grate after I stopped the shot had the last part of the extraction, a small amount of tea-like coffee that had floral notes in a slight bitterness.

Day 6: 20 gm, pulled too fast at 199F setting. Apricot with slight astringency. Not bad. 2 degrees cooler, tighter grind. Apricot, hint of raspberry sweetness, cacao nibs.

Day 7: It continues to develop nicely, rounding out the sweetness. The bitters lose astringency. At 198F, updosed, ristretto. Very sweet, bitters at back of the tongue. Good mouthfeel. Somewhere between milk chocolate and dark chocolate aroma. Bitterness is pleasing, not astringent. Doesn't reach the tartness of bitter almond. My best shot of this yet. It's a very satisfying cup that is developed and doesn't have prominent roast flavors. It's also not a complex coffee. I liked updosing this to 22 gm and pulling at about 100% brew ratio.

Day 8: 18.5 gm, 18 second preinfusion, 18 sec pull on MCAL. Creamy, buttery mild lemon and apricot to start. Mild lemon with a touch of lemon rind in the middle. This is probably too long a pull because I let it run through. I would prefer stopping it shorter to accentuate sweetness. This would be very good in a capp as is.

Day 9: Despite being a light roast, pulling it a bit too hot results in a cloying bitter edge to the sweetness.

Day 10: Into the freezer.

Aeropress, 2 scoops, 199f. Wet the grounds 30 sec., steep 2 ½ min. LIDO 1 grinder. Acidity is strong but not overwhelming. When sipped, as the acidity subsides and the coffee rolls to the back of the palate there are subtle floral aromatics. The acidity mellows and becomes like a light tobacco and lemon. As it cools, the sourness predominates but it is not intense and I enjoy it. This is very different than what I've experienced when pulling it very ristretto. Doing that, the sweetness easily balances the sourness. As it cools the sweetness and balance come forward. That sweetness is like honeydew melon. As it cools further chocolate nut brittle emerges in the aromatics and it's more sour/sweet.

Updosed to 19 gm in my Cremina and pulled ristretto at low pressure yielded a shot that had mild lemon sourness that yielded subtle flavor layering in the aftertaste.

Conclusion:

This is a coffee where the flavor notes were not strongly distinct but were blended. I found it best pulled very ristretto, at approximately 198 F to maximize its sweetness and balance out its acidity. I liked it best on days 5 - 8 post-roast. After this the sweet flavor notes began to subside. I never found the acidity overwhelming. I was usually pulling this on an Elektra Microcasa a Leva. I also tried it on an Olympia Express Cremina but after it had started to fade. I tried to mimic the declining pressure profile of a spring lever on the Cremina manual lever. The roaster suggests it peaks at Day 8, but that's when the initial sourness may be more prominent. I am not particularly turned off by an initial impression of sourness if that's followed by a variety of pleasing flavor notes. If you don't like a light roast that starts sour, you may find this difficult to pull as it ages past peak, unless you start using it for capps at that point. From the start this coffee also makes its presence known in milk drinks.The combination of fruit forward and acidity punch through milk.

There are seasonal versions of this blend of two complementary coffees, roasted in a similar, Nordic style that does not have much roast flavor and to my palate is not sharply acidic. I've had another version of this blend where two African coffees are combined and display more prominent floral and fruit flavors.

Brew parameters provided by roaster:

19-20 grams in a VST 20 gram basket
36-40 grams out in 28-32 seconds
Pressure should be between 7-8 bars at the group head
Brew temperature of 199°F
19-21% extraction depending on your grinder

Overall, this was a super creamy espresso highlighted by tastes of hazelnut, mild hint of dark chocolate, and sweet finish. Low acid at all brew ratios, it favored mild chocolate at normale and hints of dark chocolate as ristretto. At low brew pressures, dark dried cherries and plums emerge, but at high brew ratios (21 in, 44 out), it becomes sourish.

A very forgiving blend that responds predictably to dose/grind changes. The lower pressure was a bit of a surprise, but it appears to yield a fruitiness that's otherwise replaced by hazelnut/chocolate at higher pressures. I bet this would be a very interesting espresso on a spring lever type espresso machine. I would recommend it to newbies who want a traditional NWP style espresso (including the large dose and thick crema) and more experienced home baristas who enjoy experimenting with coffee that responds well to pressure/temperature/dose manipulations. It isn't, however, a high acid blend, even if the pressure and temperature are lowered (I didn't stray too far from the recommended dose).

Mystery blend #2 was a medium roast, say full city. I noticed quite a few peaberry in the blend. The dry aroma was sweet and nutty with a wisp of BBQ. An interesting aroma.

I found the blend relatively easy to dial in. I settled on a 20 gram dose pulled at 200F. The suggested brew ratio was 50%. The roasters recommendations were spot on. In the cup I had a light acidity and light, almost tea like body. While sipping an espresso I thought the light body and citrus in the cup would make for a nice summer espresso. I was getting some sugar sweetness with a light citrus and berry in the cup. When pulled hot the shot went bitter as in citrus bitter, orange pith. When over extracted a distillate and savory note came out. Remember that BBQ aroma I mentioned, well there it is in the cup but not in a good way.

In milk the coffee simply washed out due to its light body. I also used this coffee in my siphon pot. As a brewed cup I noticed more berry and floral in the cup. The light body and mild acidity carried through into the brew. It would be interesting to try this as a cold drip concentrate for iced coffee.

Blend #3 was roasted 2/9, and I began sampling it after a week of rest. The beans are roasted to a medium dark color, and have a nice dry grinds aroma.


This blend was easy to dial in at standard espresso settings: 15g dose, 30s shot time, 2:3 brew ratio. I tested extractions at temperatures ranging from 87C-94C (Spaz settings), and enjoyed it most at 91-92C (a medium setting on my Spaz S1V1). At this temperature, the flavors are reasonably balanced, highlighted by notes of tobacco, leather, and tamarind/cola acidity. As expected, lower temperatures brought out more fruitiness, but also some astringency. Mild ashiness emerges at higher brew temperatures.


Who should buy it: cappuccino and latte lovers. The flavor profile is overly bland for straight shots. I liked this blend best in cappuccinos, where milk brings out hints of chocolate liquor.

This is not a blind review, because I sourced this coffee. I used a Fiorenzato Doge 68 mm conical grinder paired with a 2008 Elektra Microcasa a Leva (MCAL) and a 1987 Olympia Express Cremina. The MCAL is fitted with a Teflon heat break gasket,* and the pressure toggles on at 1.1 bar. The Cremina has a thermometer added to the outside of the group. I found the temperature best at the roaster's suggested 200F.

I drink this blend fairly regularly and was told that one of the components changed just before the review. I tried an espresso at the roaster's cafe, and it was sweet and mild. I didn't think ask whether that was from the prior batch and waited until reviewing at home to think about subtler flavors. Then I found it harder to dial in than previously, so I include notes on what it can taste like if you're off the mark.

My best shot was a normale on the Microcasa. On Day 9 I was dialing in and didn't measure carefully. A high dose with a double Fellini pull produced a long, slow extraction that revealed some florals at the start and enough sweetness to balance bitter and sour. As I sipped deeper into the cup the sweetness became more pronounced. There was an aftertaste of woody distillates that resembled Ovaltine and resolved into a sweet pipe tobacco. The woody taste was a bit prominent for me but this would have been excellent in a cappuccino.

Be sure you age it past Day 7 to eliminate ashiness. I didn't try it aged past Day 11, when I stored it airtight in the freezer. Pulling it too hot or at a high pressure or brew ratio can extract acrid bitters, some saltiness, and a dominant tobacco. Too cool can yield sour tobacco, but that plays well in milk. A spring lever with its declining pressure profile and brewing just outside the ristretto range can eliminate all bitterness and harshness. A more subtle espresso emerges with mild sweetness to balance sourness, hints of floral and spice, and a finish of sweet, smoky pipe tobacco. I find it best in a cappuccino, where it shows well through milk and can taste like chocolate Ovaltine with tobacco and nutty flavors.

This is a roast-forward coffee with dry aromatics of nut, chocolate, a faintly earthy fruitiness, and some smokiness. The latter I found subsides as the coffee ages into the roaster's recommended 8+ day rest time.

As a straight espresso, it is also roast-forward: At its best, I found it to be heavy-bodied, with viscous crema, a leathery, mild smokiness in the low end, a muted acidity, and enough sweetness to balance the bitter. This is not my personal espresso preference, so I should point out that, like a bourbon drinker trying an Islay scotch, I am probably missing a lot of flavors because I am not well-adapted those at center stage.

Having said that, I found the roaster's suggestion (Synesso basket, 16.5g in, 30-33g out, 200°F) to be very close to what I found ideal. I preferred a cooler, but still very "medium" 199°F, and also a medium grind and a short pre-brew on the Slayer. The espresso works best as a normale; I found that both ristrettos and lungos emphasize the espresso's bitter too much. Having said that, the body of a normale certainly feels like a ristretto to me. Even extractions are cake with this coffee, and it would also be a great candidate for espresso photography-the shots come out in a drooping, beautifully striated cone.

I found the aforementioned 8 days rest to be mandatory. I began experimenting with the coffee on day 6, and was unable to extract anything that wasn't overpowered by astringent vinegar or bitter ashiness on that day. Any adjustment that reduced the one seemed to amplify the other. However, the astringency in particular subsided after the 8th day. Then it was easy to dial in, as I could reduce the intensity of the smokiness (by coarsening the grind, lowering the temp, etc.) without paying in astringency. I suggest abiding by the roaster's suggestion and allowing the coffee its rest.

While this coffee as straight espresso is perhaps a bit too roast-forward for my tastes, I found it worked really nicely for an "oomfy" comfort food milk drink. In this format, the creamy sweetness of the milk opens up the coffee's "dessert" flavors for me-strong cocoa in particular, and also some mellow blueberry tones on the best ones. They reminded me a lot of cappuccinos I used to have at some of the first great coffee shops I found when I was getting into coffee a decade ago.

This blend reminds me of the modern roaster's dilemma: Can one coffee be served as straight espresso and milk drinks?

Some roasters have avoided the problem by having one offering of coffee with complexity that espresso aficionados demand, another coffee that has enough "punch" to avoid being lost in milk. Other roasters have a single coffee, but rely on the barista either (a) increasing the dose, or (b) using sufficiently small volumes of milk. I haven't read the other reviewers' notes or the reveal, but given its distinct roast notes and simple tobacco/leather profile, I'm guessing this is a coffee roasted with milk drinks in mind.

Reviewers were instructed to allow for a long rest period. Initially I dialed it in as a straight espresso; the profile is straightforward tobacco without ashiness. The crema is abundant, creamy, and persistent. Its roast notes are mild by Starbucks standards, but they're clearly present when served without milk or sugar. When the sweetness of milk is added, the result is a pleasing cappuccino with hints of caramel / roasted walnuts. Those who love milk drinks will enjoy this coffee as a traditional cappuccino or latte. Straight espresso drinkers, especially those who like fruit and nuts complexity, will likely find it acceptable albeit uninspiring.

The above commentary applied to the coffee pulled on the La Marzocco Strada @ 200°F. I'm preparing for a "newbie" video on levers, so I also pulled it on the Elektra Microcasa a Leva with 14.5 gram dose, medium temperature, and ristretto-ish volume. I assume thanks to the declining pressure profile, the straight espressos on the Microcasa were more layered and mild-mannered. Based on my experience, lever fans looking to experiment with a friendly coffee would be pleased by this choice, whether as straight espresso or cappuccinos.