HB 2012 BLIND ESPRESSO #2

INTRODUCTION: This time around tasting blind is a gamble, since my review doesn't only depend on how the coffee tastes, but on what the coffee is. If I'm wrong about this coffee, I've made a fool of myself, and my recommendation would be mistaken.

I'm recommending this blend as a good example of an Italian style bar blend, made with a high proportion robusta. So if it turns out to be all or mostly arabica, my tasting chops have badly derailed; and my recommendation is pointless.

OVERALL TASTE: Brewing reveals no acidity, fairly massive body, and deep toned fresh tar taste; this taste is not due to dark roasting (the blend is roasted on the light side of medium), but is the inherent flavor of most Robusta coffee. The aroma is of toasted, slightly burnt nuts, along with a whiff of kerosene in the first few days after the bag is opened.

As espresso, coarser grinds have the cutting citrus peel flavor of underextracted light roast coffees (a flavor easily confused for acidity). At finer grinds, the flavors get softer -- chocolate, nut and and tarry aromatics -- almost like having a nutella sandwich at the side of a freshly paved road.

The coffee is not sweet, although balanced enough not to require sugar. However, some people may prefer it with an added half teaspoon of sugar. This makes for some very non-third wave fun, since the crema is so gel-like that you can watch the sugar slowly sink for about 90 seconds.

SHOT MAKING INSTRUCTIONS: Start with a fine grind and low dose where you will get a soft tasting chocolate, nut and tarry shot. Work your way slowly to a more coarse grind to add a slight edge of cutting bright flavors. When the taste balances, it's a bit like a slightly salty candy bar with nuts, chocolate, and a hint of tarry burn.

WHO SHOULD BUY IT: This is a basic, but well made Robusta blend. The Arabica portion is low acid and slight nutty/rooty tasting, so probably a Brazil. There are plenty of petrol aromatics, especially when the bag is freshly opened, but in a way I found pleasant.

The gel-like quality of crema makes the blend a standout for finely delineated latte art, especially in small cups, since the crema is so tight that the milk foam will stay put at wherever it is poured.

H-B Favorite Espresso Blends 2012 #2
Roast date: unknown
Test dates: April 12-18
Coffee dose: 15-16g
Espresso weight: 18-25g
Shot volumes: ~40ml
Brew ratios: 60-85%
Shot times: 25-30 sec after appearance of espresso droplets on bottom of basket
Brew temperatures: 88C-92C in increments of 1C

Protocol
Grinder: Robur with doser and (full) mini-hopper.
Espresso machine: La Spaziale S1 V1, no preinfusion, blind basket brew pressure 9.25bar, 53mm double basket, bottomless portafilter.
Ground coffee into tared basket and weighed dose to nearest 0.1g.
Brief WDT stir with needle, then tamped to ~30#.
Pulled shots into prewarmed tared shot glass, stopping at blonding (25-30sec).
Measured shot weight on digital scale to nearest 0.1g.
Visually, all pours were good.
For tasting, poured shot glass into prewarmed demitasse cup. Sampled straight, then with 1/2t sugar, then with small amounts (1oz) of microfoamed milk.

Tasting notes
My unlabeled silver ziplock bag of HB#2 arrived about a week ago. This proved to be a medium roast with remarkably little dry odor from the whole beans. The beans ground more quickly than usual, and had an interesting hint of ferment in the aroma. Aeropress "cupping" yielded a mild, low acid, nondescript brew.

Hoping for something more interesting from the espresso machine, I began pulling shots the next evening. Based on suggested brew parameters, I used a 16g dose, 70% brew ratio, 30 second pour, and lowish brew temps (90-91C). The resulting taste profile was mild, reasonably balanced, low acidity, with a chocolate/vanilla flavor profile, and a hint of smoke in the aftertaste. Despite noticeable defects (baking soda acridity, grapefruit pith, bitter undertones), this made a decent straight shot. I preferred HB#2 best with some sugar. Small amounts of milk bring out caramel/chocolate/vanilla flavors, but these get drowned in big gulp lattes.

The preliminary pours were reminiscent of classic Italian style espresso blends, such as Paradise Classico and Vivace Dolce. The crema had a distinctive, finely grained texture. Like Jim, I would guess that this blend contains robusta.

The next day, on Jim's recommendation, I shifted to a lower dose (15g) and finer grind. Together with the extra day of rest, this largely eliminated the unpleasant grapefruit pith defect. Flavors defects were not an issue for the next few days, although acridity reemerged on the last day of testing.

In addition to varying the brew ratio, I tested a wide range of brew temperatures. Below 90C there is some generic fruitiness and sourness; above 91C the bitterness increases. Brew temperatures of 90-91C seem to work best on my equipment.

Conclusions
HB#2 features a classic Italianate taste profile, comprised largely of chocolates, vanillas, and caramels. Ristretto pours are mild, syrupy, and low in acidity. There's a moderate range of acceptable brew temperatures; too low or too high brings out taste defects. Crema is finer than usual, perhaps due to the presence of robusta.

HB#2 is an homage to the roots of Italian espresso. This is not a fruit forward, third wave coffee, and not everyone will like it. But if you enjoy espresso blends such as Paradise Classico and Vivace Dolce, give it a try.

Dunno what I'm writing about because the bag arrived in a mystery box with no return address, but with an uncancelled postage stamp worth $5.25, and no other markings. Since there was not excess packaging, misspelled words, wires sticking out, etc. I placed the box inside my explosion-proof container ad opened it. I then opened the unmarked bag and was instantly overcome by the dangerous bag hit. After regaining consciousness, I took the brave step of brewing a cup via clever dripper. I drank it and thought to myself "Why this is the sort of low-acidity chocolate bomb that terrorists should be allowed to send in the mail every day. I bet it makes killer espresso. I wonder who the f*** sent it?" Then I got Dan's email and I knew what I must do.

So I brewed espresso, and have these notes:
I brewed using an 18 gm capacity VST basket with my usual pressure profile and temperature of 200 degrees F. I quickly decided I liked it at brew ratios near 50% by weight (shot weight around 35 gm.) This looks like a large espresso since there is so much crema with this stuff. At this brew ratio the acidity is nicely balanced, and to me the taste is predominately bittersweet chocolate and hint of dark cherry / currant. It's quite sweet and very easy drinking, with moderately heavy body - not syrupy. There's not a lot of movement in the flavor, with the exception that the acidity diminishes. It's almost comfort food espresso. I find it interesting in that it is almost defect-free in its balance, even though to me its flavor profile is not that complicated. This would be perfect to serve to a newcomer to espresso. I think it's a very nice coffee.

I did not like this coffee brewed at brew ratios toward ristretto ranges. When brewed in this way I found the acidity to be out of balance. The coffee does not tolerate updosing. It's roasted lightly enough that oil doesn't bind the particles together when tamped down, so it's pretty easily disturbed and channels if updosed and brewed with a relatively moderate-pressure pre-infusion cycle.

I should add that I think that there are other coffees that make better cappas. I didn't think it stood up to the addition of milk well. Maybe because it's not a trumpet. There's so much crema with this stuff that I had a hard time pouring attractive patterns. I suppose I could have modified my technique, but i was more interested in drinking this stuff as straight espresso.

The reviewers have weighed in, so it's time to reveal the mystery espresso was People's Daily Espresso by Social Coffee & Tea Company! They're located in Ontario Canada. Thankfully they're very adept at cross-shipment processing, so espresso aficionados in the US will have no problem ordering it.

For what it's worth, I didn't look at the roaster's list of varietals until midway in the review. The taste profile improved markedly after day 5-6; the grapefruit / baking soda was replaced by prominent chocolates. There's a slight sharp edge that's omnipresent in all shots, similar to baker's chocolate. It was balanced nicely small milk.

At 19.5 grams and ~70% ristretto brew ratio, People's Daily is a well executed Italian "classic cafe" bar espresso. The cappuccinos are also good at small volumes. My initial impressions four days post-roast were blah; by the weekend, I really enjoyed the distinct chocolates. Those looking for a classic Italian espresso will like it. My newbie meter is getting out of shape, but my general impression is that there's a good margin of error at high doses.

I'll leave the thread locked for a day or two should reviewers wish to comment prior to opening the thread for public comments/questions.

HB wrote:The reviewers have weighed in, so it's time to reveal the mystery espresso was People's Daily Espresso by Social Coffee & Tea Company! They're located in Ontario Canada. Thankfully they're very adept at cross-shipment processing, so espresso aficionados in the US will have no problem ordering it.

I ordered a shipment of People's Daily Espresso two months ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I would never have guessed this was the same coffee as HB#2. Since I still had a bag in the freezer, I pulled it out after the identity was revealed, and brewed a couple of shots. Punchline: I would still not have guessed it was the same coffee.


Great bag, great blend.

About Social Coffee People's Daily espresso:
Robusta, I don't think so. I bought a bag on March 5th. that I kept a small portion of it inside my freezer to see how it ages and I bought another bag two weeks ago but nothing near what reviewer experienced.
I took those freezed beans out and brewed several shots too(really nothing near their experience only the chocolate taste that is more dominant after aging.)

People's Daily has been my go to espresso blend for a while now and I too was surprised by the reviewers' experiences. Aside the chocolate notes little else of my experiences were shared by those of the reviewers.

I suspect Dan spiked it with some robusta

d2addict wrote:...I bought another bag two weeks ago but nothing near what reviewer experienced.

mariobarba wrote:Aside the chocolate notes little else of my experiences were shared by those of the reviewers.

Since you know the blend well, would you elaborate?

d2addict wrote:Robusta, I don't think so.

Steve at Social confirmed that it's a 100% Arabica blend.

For what it's worth, I have limited experience with Robusta blends. It wasn't the first thought when I sampled People's Daily, but I think there's some subtle similarities that may be (mis?)leading reviewers to that assumption. Searching all the varietals noted (Poco novo, Bourbon, Ethiopia Heirloom, Catuai,Typica), I found this interesting note on Stumptown's notes on Catuai (emphasis added):

Stumptown on Catuai wrote:Catuai is a dwarf varietal that is highly resistant to the natural elements coffee trees face at high altitude as well as being highly productive in terms of yield. Catuai is a hybrid of the Mondo Novo and Caturra varietals and originates in Brasil. It is now found prevalently throughout Central America. Cherry can ripen into both red and yellow forms and for as long as I can remember nobody thought there was a difference. A few weeks of Central American cuppings in early 2007 led Stumptown to believe, however, that the yellow strain produces inferior cup quality by comparison to the red strain. Although both have "big" acidity, the yellow seems to develop an unclean, petroleum-like mouthfeel as it cools. The red catuai strain seems to maintain its cleanliness.

To be clear, I enjoyed People's Daily and would recommend it to those who want to try a good espresso blend modeled after traditional Italian texture and taste profiles (e.g., chocolates, stable crema, slight bite).

For what it's worth; I've cupped many robustas and sampled many robusta blends. This blend registers as a robusta. Also Poco Novo is not a Brazilian Arabica varietal I find listed anywhere. Poco Fundo is a large plantation, and Mundo Novo is a robustified Arabica, which like Catimors, can sometimes have the Robusta dry distillates.