Buon Giorno coffees

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
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Balthazar_B
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#1: Post by Balthazar_B »

There's been some discussion about BG coffees in other threads, so starting a dedicated topic on their coffees.

To kick it off...
Quirquincho wrote: Would you mind sharing your espresso brewing parameters for the BG Estate? I don't often drink dark roasts, but just got my hands on a bag and was planning to try a 1:1.5 ratio in about 20 seconds, temp surfing on the cooler side.
We've been brewing it using 17g doses in a Robot. We've tried it preheating the PF/basket and not, without much difference in the cup. It is only a few days off roast, so it's still settling down. BG doesn't specify what's in the blend, but it's very good in milk drinks with plenty of dark chocolate flavors, so there may be a good proportion of Brazil in it. Straight, there's a wee bit of smokiness we don't mind, but it may still be developing. Folks who like darker roasts should check it out. Hope someone who's familiar working with this blend on a more sophisticated machine will chime in with observations and recipes.

Here's a link to BG Estate Espresso: https://bgcoffee.net/collections/all/pr ... 1159051512

EDIT: We've gone through a few lbs of Nicoletti Espresso in the past, and as I was sipping some Estate just now, this thought crossed my mind: "This is what Nicoletti aspires to (but doesn't reach)." Very enjoyable.
- John

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TomC
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#2: Post by TomC »

Their Inverno really blew me away. I got amazing shots out of it and found it easy to dial in, great in milk and just fine on its own, so it's going to stay on my short list of espresso rotation.

I bought (I think) four different blends from them at once, but it may have been only three. But the Inverno was definitely my favorite. There was a greater flavor intensity and cleanliness with it, without the astringent finish I found in the others.
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dreadnatty08
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#3: Post by dreadnatty08 »

I ordered a couple bags from them, the Espresso Estate and Espresso Autunno. The latter I haven't opened yet, but the Estate, oh boy was I a little shocked when I saw the beans. Since getting into coffee more a year ago, so many people told me these dark roasts or well developed coffees were a no go. Well, I coarsened up the grind and gave it a shot on the MaraX. Temp setting was the middle so 199-201f. I was hitting 1:2 in about 35-40 seconds (this has a long preinfusion, ramping up pressure after first drop and tapering off after hitting about 28g).
Flavors are intensely roasty, next to zero acidity and huge body and crema. Honestly, I found cortados to be tough as the milk just sits on top of the crema! Overall, this is a good introduction into traditional Italian style dark roasted espresso and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
The Autunno says it's more of a medium roast with a bit more fruit in the cup, so I'm excited to pull that one out of the freezer in another week.

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Balthazar_B (original poster)
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#4: Post by Balthazar_B (original poster) »

Dan, glad you're enjoying it too, its power and the bit of roastiness. The beans BG uses in the Estate seem to be very high quality, and their roasting is meticulous. It's the style of coffee I grew up on, as I did films by Truffaut and Hitchcock and music by Sam and Dave. And you know, they're all still fresh and good.
- John

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JohnB.
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#5: Post by JohnB. »

dreadnatty08 wrote: The Autunno says it's more of a medium roast with a bit more fruit in the cup, so I'm excited to pull that one out of the freezer in another week.
The Autunno benefits from 7-8 days rest post roast. Inverno was 6-7 days. This was based on straight shots, not milk drinks which I seldom make. Passed on the Estate blend for that reason.
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LVD
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#6: Post by LVD »

TomC wrote:Their Inverno really blew me away. I got amazing shots out of it and found it easy to dial in, great in milk and just fine on it's own, so it's going to stay on my short list of espresso rotation.

I bought (I think) four different blends from them at once, but it may have been only three. But the Inverno was definitely my favorite. There was a greater flavor intensity and cleanliness with it, without the astringent finish I found in the others.

I haven't had all of their offerings, but my favorite for home use so far is also the inverno. If anyone is getting too much roast/smoky flavor with inverno, it was easily balanced by having a faster flow (~25 seconds on my machine). Mid/low espresso range temperature and maybe a hair under 1:2 was a good starting point.

I used to have the opportunity to visit their shop in grapevine, and I actually liked the autunno best when they pulled a shot for me (macchiato).

I look forward to hearing about BG's other coffees from you all.

nameisjoey
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#7: Post by nameisjoey »

Will be watching this thread closely! I've always wanted to try the autunno blend.

Quirquincho
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#8: Post by Quirquincho »

I was recently in the DFW area and picked up a bag of each of their "four seasons" collection: Estate, Autunno, Inverno and Primavera. I put them in the freeze when I returned home, roughly a week post-roast.

Yesterday, I started dialing in the Estate, a dark roast. I'm using an 18gr VST basket in a Gaggia Classic Pro with the brewing pressure modified to 9 bars. As I never really drink coffee roasted this dark, I was surprised to see how much more volume these beans take. I'm dosing 16gr with 25gr out in 25 secs. I can't control temperature on my Gaggia, but I'm brewing the shot in the cooler side with some temp surfing.

As espresso without sugar, the roastiness is intense. At these paremeters, it was not bitter in the over-extracted sense though. In a 5oz cappuccino without sugar, it tastes like a very dark chocolate (90% or so cocoa chocolate bars). I enjoyed the latter much more. I later tried it with sugar. I assume this is how most people would have it in the Italian regions whose roasting style BG looks to reproduce. As I expected, it creates a nice balance of sweet and bitter. I'm going to keep playing with it, but I will probably stick to drinking it as an unsweetened cappuccino or an occasional sweetened macchiato. Personally, it's a nice change, but I probably wouldn't make Estate one of my regulars at home.

Thanks all for sharing brewing insights on the BG blends. I'm looking forward to trying the three other blends and sharing my impressions.

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JohnB.
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#9: Post by JohnB. »

Quirquincho wrote:Yesterday, I started dialing in the Estate, a dark roast. I'm using an 18gr VST basket in a Gaggia Classic Pro with the brewing pressure modified to 9 bars. As I never really drink coffee roasted this dark, I was surprised to see how much more volume these beans take. I'm dosing 16gr with 25gr out in 25 secs. I can't control temperature on my Gaggia, but I'm brewing the shot in the cooler side with some temp surfing.

Thanks all for sharing brewing insights on the BG blends. I'm looking forward to trying the three other blends and sharing my impressions.
When you get to the Inverno & Autunno blends bump up your shot temp. I found them both best at a 203*F shot temp.
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lancealot
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#10: Post by lancealot »

Working with the Inverno right now. Best shot has been 18:36 in 27 sec, 203.

I had the grind finer before, resulting in a 36 second pour and the result was some harsh flavors, I can't describe them but they were harsh and sharp. Not bitter or sour. Maybe it was astringency but it was not drying like astringency in tea. With the 36 second pour, this negative quality was present whether I pulled it at 198, 200 or 203. I loosened up the grind and pulled it at 198 and it wasn't right yet. Bumping the temp to 203 got rid of the harshness, resulting in the best shot I've had so far.

I find the flavors to be intermingled and indistinct. That is neither bad not good. The flavor is punchy. I am going to keep playing with loosening the grind to see what happens.

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