Favorite Espresso Blends 2014 - Page 3
- shadowfax
- Posts: 3545
- Joined: 19 years ago
Blend #3 is a clean, sweet, acid-forward coffee. In my initial cupping, I noted a lot of sweet citrus with a hint of some more mellow apple-like acidity as well. Caramel sweetness dominates the cup; for me, the low chocolate tones play only in the background.
As espresso, it produces an acid-forward shot that is easily tamed. It can take a good bit of heat (201-202 for most of my shots), and the acidity renders best on the warmer side. That said, I found the coffee to be temperature-tolerant: it is much less responsive to temperature changes than the previous coffees we've reviewed so far this year. The coffee favors a modest updose (18.5-19.5g in a VST basket), coarse grind, and a brisk pressure ramp to keep the flow in check-about 28-35g in 30s. Low, heavy flavors are subtle in this coffee, and I preferred shots with slightly lower brew ratios for emphasizing them a bit more. However, pulling the coffee tighter tends to produce a shot with refreshing notes of ginger. Both of these profiles are balanced in their own right, and both characterized by a clean caramel-y sweetness. I recommend this coffee to those interested in a clean, balanced acid-forward espresso that is quite forgiving.
Post-review note: After seeing Jim's review, I did want to add that I used water around 65ppm TDS for my review. I did not experiment with a variety of TDS levels, but I did want to add that note in light of Jim's interesting comments on soft vs. mildly hard water with this coffee.
As espresso, it produces an acid-forward shot that is easily tamed. It can take a good bit of heat (201-202 for most of my shots), and the acidity renders best on the warmer side. That said, I found the coffee to be temperature-tolerant: it is much less responsive to temperature changes than the previous coffees we've reviewed so far this year. The coffee favors a modest updose (18.5-19.5g in a VST basket), coarse grind, and a brisk pressure ramp to keep the flow in check-about 28-35g in 30s. Low, heavy flavors are subtle in this coffee, and I preferred shots with slightly lower brew ratios for emphasizing them a bit more. However, pulling the coffee tighter tends to produce a shot with refreshing notes of ginger. Both of these profiles are balanced in their own right, and both characterized by a clean caramel-y sweetness. I recommend this coffee to those interested in a clean, balanced acid-forward espresso that is quite forgiving.
Post-review note: After seeing Jim's review, I did want to add that I used water around 65ppm TDS for my review. I did not experiment with a variety of TDS levels, but I did want to add that note in light of Jim's interesting comments on soft vs. mildly hard water with this coffee.
Nicholas Lundgaard
- another_jim
- Team HB
- Posts: 13954
- Joined: 19 years ago
Do a review along of some Chicago Young Guns.
In recent years, Intelligentsia and Metropolis have gotten some competition from a new crop of microroasters. These roasters grew up with the coffee web; they use 5 to 20 pound shop roasters, order 20 and 50 pound bags from coffee shrub or cafe imports, combine to bid on auction coffees, and sell their roasts over the web and through I-phone friendly cafes with out of the park yelp ratings. It's a way of doing coffee that would have been impossible even a five years ago.
This is a fluid market, with about ten businesses the last time I looked. Team HB will be reviewing three of them. One, a roaster who doesn't believe in blends, is represented by an espresso friendly SO; the other two by their regular blends.
So what's a review along? I have sent the coffees blind, just labelled C1, C2, and C3, to the reviewers. In the "spoiler" frame below, you will find the three coffees. If you want to participate in the review-along, order one or more of them and compare notes with our regular reviewers. I will not be participating in the review. I like all three coffees, and have the shots at cafes regularly. All three are roasted on the light side, they are bright in the modern style, but not crashingly so; and I see lots of people ordering them as straight shots or as cortados/macchiatos.
Here are the coffees:
C1
C2
C3
The thread will be locked till this weekend, so the reviewers and those reviewing along have a chance to try the coffees.
In recent years, Intelligentsia and Metropolis have gotten some competition from a new crop of microroasters. These roasters grew up with the coffee web; they use 5 to 20 pound shop roasters, order 20 and 50 pound bags from coffee shrub or cafe imports, combine to bid on auction coffees, and sell their roasts over the web and through I-phone friendly cafes with out of the park yelp ratings. It's a way of doing coffee that would have been impossible even a five years ago.
This is a fluid market, with about ten businesses the last time I looked. Team HB will be reviewing three of them. One, a roaster who doesn't believe in blends, is represented by an espresso friendly SO; the other two by their regular blends.
So what's a review along? I have sent the coffees blind, just labelled C1, C2, and C3, to the reviewers. In the "spoiler" frame below, you will find the three coffees. If you want to participate in the review-along, order one or more of them and compare notes with our regular reviewers. I will not be participating in the review. I like all three coffees, and have the shots at cafes regularly. All three are roasted on the light side, they are bright in the modern style, but not crashingly so; and I see lots of people ordering them as straight shots or as cortados/macchiatos.
Here are the coffees:
C1
Spoiler: show
C2
Spoiler: show
C3
Spoiler: show
The thread will be locked till this weekend, so the reviewers and those reviewing along have a chance to try the coffees.
Jim Schulman
- another_jim
- Team HB
- Posts: 13954
- Joined: 19 years ago
For those doing the review along: if you want to post a review, go ahead and do so using the spoiler* tags.
This will conceal the review from those who want to make up their own minds; and make it available to those who click on it to read it. When cuppers do reviews, they do not discuss the coffees until they have all finished their tasting and own scoring. HB is using the spoiler tag so we can all do this on-line
(*) Below is an example:
It renders as shown below:
This will conceal the review from those who want to make up their own minds; and make it available to those who click on it to read it. When cuppers do reviews, they do not discuss the coffees until they have all finished their tasting and own scoring. HB is using the spoiler tag so we can all do this on-line
(*) Below is an example:
[spoiler]This is hidden[/spoiler]
Spoiler: show
Jim Schulman
- TomC
- Team HB
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- Joined: 13 years ago
Join us and support Artisan Roasting Software=https://artisan-scope.org/donate/
- another_jim
- Team HB
- Posts: 13954
- Joined: 19 years ago
I supplied the three coffees to the HB team for reviews. I don't drink them at home, instead they are served in cafes I frequently visit. So my comments will be based on my cafe experience, rather than my home tasting.
C1 is Dark Matter's ... Unicorn Blood Espresso Blend.
Dark Matter is kind of weird, as the yelp post show, and well named. It is located in a maybe warehouse, maybe gentrifying district north of the Loop. It's a coffee roaster serving coffee out of the front room, and basically an extension of the roasting operation started at Star Lounge cafe located close by. I first noticed it when they opened Osmium in the far squarer, but more pedestrian friendly reaches of Lakeview.
Unicorn Blood is a light roast with a bright acidic note; but it's roasted slow enough and pulled ristretto enough for lots of body and caramels. If you enjoy (and miss) light to medium roasts that have honest to goodness and well thought out roast tastes, you will enjoy Dark Matter coffees in general, and Unicorn Blood in particular. If you like bourbon, they also something you will love -- green coffee stored in bourbon barrels that will give you a ton of new oak in your shot without any alcohol at all. Sign up on the web site to get an email heads up when they roast these.
C1 is Dark Matter's ... Unicorn Blood Espresso Blend.
Dark Matter is kind of weird, as the yelp post show, and well named. It is located in a maybe warehouse, maybe gentrifying district north of the Loop. It's a coffee roaster serving coffee out of the front room, and basically an extension of the roasting operation started at Star Lounge cafe located close by. I first noticed it when they opened Osmium in the far squarer, but more pedestrian friendly reaches of Lakeview.
Unicorn Blood is a light roast with a bright acidic note; but it's roasted slow enough and pulled ristretto enough for lots of body and caramels. If you enjoy (and miss) light to medium roasts that have honest to goodness and well thought out roast tastes, you will enjoy Dark Matter coffees in general, and Unicorn Blood in particular. If you like bourbon, they also something you will love -- green coffee stored in bourbon barrels that will give you a ton of new oak in your shot without any alcohol at all. Sign up on the web site to get an email heads up when they roast these.
Jim Schulman
- HB (original poster)
- Admin
- Posts: 22028
- Joined: 19 years ago
Thanks Jim! Now that the identity of C1 has been revealed, we'll post our comments for C2, Jim will reveal its identity, and similarly for C3. If you want to play along, see Jim's first posts for the three Chicago coffees and don't click the "spoiler" links until you've had a chance to taste yourself.
Dan Kehn