cskorton wrote:Well, the blend finally made it out to the east coast this past Tuesday, so I've had a little bit of time to play around with it on my Londinium R lever. I will caveat this by saying it is getting better with age, so I'll probably follow up again in a week or two. Also, this is strictly my opinion only, I'd encourage others to formulate their own opinions. As always, ymmv.

Overall Impressions - I'm a bit disappointed. As a lover of Italian roasts, I was expecting a darker roasted, very punchy, nuanced, intricate shot similar to the Italian blends I love including Saka, Motta, Filicori Zecchini, and a few other smaller ones. I can say that this blend is nothing like any Italian blend I've ever tried. For one, it's definitely roasted much lighter.

This blend lacks complexity, and to me, is a bit one sided and flat. Generally, Italian blends walk the line between sweet and bitter (think dark chocolate or cocoa, toasted nuts, and a bitter digestive before dinner drink).

There's this weird front note that is sweet, but doesn't necessarily taste good to me. I've hard dark Neapolitan blends that start with a jammy, mixed fruit or apricot note. Someone else mentioned banana peel, and I think that nails it, ha!

Body is also different. Italian blends tend to be fuller bodied. This is heavier, but not quite as heavy as thick as Italian blends usually are.

I will say it is better in milk drinks. In a standard cappuccino, I get dark chocolate and caramel notes. However, because it lacks punchiness, it doesn't punch through the milk as well as darker Neapolitan and other Italian blends.

Brewing Parameters-

1. Preinfusion Time - tried 20 second preinfusions, 3 second preinfusions, and everything in between. This blend likes no to minimal preinfusion. I keep it at 2 or 3 seconds, just enough to fill the group head.

2. Preinfusion pressure - most Italian roasts that are darker with robusta like 1.3 bar preinfusion, however this one, likes it at 3 bar.

3. Temperature- I can't control this variable, but because it's medium roasted, it can take a higher temperature

4. Dose - I always use 14g. Because it's medium roasted, I could've pushed it up to 16g, but I don't like big doses.

5. Brew ratio - I've found 1:2 to be best. 1:1 ristrettos highlight the front note that I don't like. Pushing it to 1:2 introduces some good bitterness to help balance it out.

6. Brew time - not counting preinfusion, I've found this likes to be pushed really hard. My best shots were 45 seconds long! Very unusual for me, I always keep it at 28 seconds.

Again, this is just my opinion, and I'd love to try Lusso's other stuff, as I'll support any small coffee roaster trying to make it. What's their best chocolatey full bodied coffee they carry? I love caramel/toffee forward coffees as well.

cskorton wrote:Wow, what a difference a couple weeks rest makes! As others have noted, this blend has gotten significantly tastier since even last week.

slybarman wrote:If you don't have pit stains and your eyes aren't spinning like cookie monster, you haven't fully committed to the hobby. :shock: :D

jpender wrote: There was a video someone posted some months back. I wish I could remember what it was called. It was a guy making espresso and he kept saying "I can do better" until he'd had so many cups his eyes were spinning. I thought it was hilarious.

Ken5 wrote: Found the thread, video was no longer available there:

video

jpender wrote: It's interesting to read about the perceived higher caffeine in this Roma blend. If it's 30% Robusta and Lionshare is nearly 20% you wouldn't think it would be all that much higher, right? Or do people think Lionshare is also high in caffeine?