Guiding the discussion gently back on track, I just enjoyed a macchiato made with their Hayes Valley blend at Blue Bottle's Ferry Building location and it was wonderful. My own attempts with their beans have been close, but have never quite reached that level of goodness.

Interestingly, the last times I stopped in either of the two L.A. Blue Bottles, neither was serving any of the usual BB espresso blends. They were maintaining Handsome Coffee continuity by continuing to roast and only serve the old Dandy blend here.

I'm curious what the HayesValley is like at a Blue Bottle location, since I left LA about 20 years ago. When I first dialed it in to the recommended specs, it was like drinking a perfectly ripened Meyer lemon...delicious for sure, but a slight tweak to lower the output a couple of grams tamed it and balanced it out. That was last summer, iirc, and I've probably been through close to 10 pounds of it since. I'm certainly surprised to hear they'd ever be serving anything other than their own roasts - no matter what location.

emradguy wrote:I'm curious what the HayesValley is like at a Blue Bottle location, since I left LA about 20 years ago. When I first dialed it in to the recommended specs, it was like drinking a perfectly ripened Meyer lemon...delicious for sure, but a slight tweak to lower the output a couple of grams tamed it and balanced it out. That was last summer, iirc, and I've probably been through close to 10 pounds of it since. I'm certainly surprised to hear they'd ever be serving anything other than their own roasts - no matter what location.

While there was a light citrusy tinge (remember, this was in a macchiato), the more dominant notes were an appealing earthiness you might find in a nice Sulawesi, but most of all a deeply satisfying dark chocolate that lingers and lingers on, like that time you french-kissed someone who had been snacking on Baker's chocolate.

I don't know the story of Handsome Coffee, but if their problem was not the quality of their coffee or the size of their following, but not knowing how to run a business, it would be wise to provide some continuity after the acquisition, and gradually introduce some of Blue Bottle's original coffees to the mix. Or perhaps HC's roasters really know what they're doing, so for Blue Bottle this is a case of addition by addition.

Balthazar_B wrote:I don't know the story of Handsome Coffee, but if their problem was not the quality of their coffee or the size of their following, but not knowing how to run a business, it would be wise to provide some continuity after the acquisition, and gradually introduce some of Blue Bottle's original coffees to the mix. Or perhaps HC's roasters really know what they're doing, so for Blue Bottle this is a case of addition by addition.

It seemed to me that their problem was that someone threw a pile of money at them and they took it, same could probably be said of the Tonx acquisition. Handsome Coffee Roasters did take a stance against having sweeteners on bar which struck some as pretentious, but I understand that Blue Bottle changed that policy after they took over.
A bit of nostalgia

Digging back into the posts that Marshall Fuss has posted over the years, it does look like Handsome did have some issues before the acquisition, not as simple as it seems. Here's an article from Eater that speaks to this:

http://la.eater.com/2014/4/7/6247913/bl ... s-district

And more here: Handsome Coffee: and then they were [one] NONE?

And a list of changes after the transition from 2014: http://www.lamag.com/lafood/handsome-ro ... ee-coping/

Chris Owens has now packed his bags and moved on to his newest venture, a cocktail bar in ... wait for it ... Mexico City!

Just to followup on the lighter beans I was tossing from the 17' ceiling batch. I showed them to a pro roaster (John Letoto), and he confirmed they are quakers.