This thread inspired me to continue trying comfort roast espressos. I am currently trying Kaldi 700, at the recommendation of BaristaBob.
My espresso tasting notes so far show a dark caramel upfront flavor, followed by a chocolate finish. No bitterness, no acidity. Sweetness is on the lower end to me. Easy to dial in (though I was way off on my initial shot). Overall this is a very good coffee that tastes distinctly different than other chocolate profile coffees. If you like caramel and chocolate, it's worth putting on your list. Still have some pourover testing to do before moving to the next coffee.

Iowa_boy, Glad to hear that! I have a bag of Kaldi's 700 on the way along with a bag of their Cafe Malta to try out. Can you detail what parameters you are using for your shot?

Thanks!
Josh

I am using fairly standard parameters for the Kaldi 700.
18 grams in, 38-42 grams out. 201 shot temp, 15 second pre-infusion, total shot time about 38 seconds.
Interestingly, this coffee also does really well as a lungo as well. 18 grams in, about 62 grams out, about 55-60 second shot time. Flavor profile remains very stable to me. Since I have extra time on my hands these days, it's kind of fun to let the second shot of the day run long and take my time enjoying it.
To my taste, this coffee has one of the most caramel like flavor profiles I have had. Please share your tasting notes when it arrives! Have another 4-5 days of the 700 left, then will open the Kaldi Cafe Malta next. Then on to Black Oak Roasters, then Temple, then ?.

Thanks for the reminder about Kaldi 700. I have been meaning to try this for more than a year. I ordered some today. FYI, wrote them last night to ask what was in the blend. They said it was 2 different kinds of Colombian and 1 Brazilian.

Buena Vista Roastery's Organic Brazil Single Origin is pure chocolate. They say "peanut butter, chocolate & caramel" but chocolate is definitely the lead dog on this one. They call it medium roast but its dark to me. But no matter its pure chocolate bliss as a ~ristretto and chocolate milk in a 5oz cappa: 18g in, 22g out, 10-second pre-brew/infusion, 203F, 30-second brew. Not the typical perimeters for a medium-dark roast but this is where I got the best out of it. I haven't tried it at 36-45g out...maybe that's where peanut butter and caramel come to the party.

On sale right now for $12.19/pound which is a crazy good deal all things considered.

https://bvroastery.com/products/organic ... ian-coffee

Iowa_Boy wrote:I am using fairly standard parameters for the Kaldi 700.
18 grams in, 38-42 grams out. 201 shot temp, 15 second pre-infusion, total shot time about 38 seconds.
Interestingly, this coffee also does really well as a lungo as well. 18 grams in, about 62 grams out, about 55-60 second shot time. Flavor profile remains very stable to me. Since I have extra time on my hands these days, it's kind of fun to let the second shot of the day run long and take my time enjoying it.
To my taste, this coffee has one of the most caramel like flavor profiles I have had. Please share your tasting notes when it arrives! Have another 4-5 days of the 700 left, then will open the Kaldi Cafe Malta next. Then on to Black Oak Roasters, then Temple, then ?.

So I tried both the 700 and the Cafe malta... Still playing with them using my Lido-E hand grinder for single dosing. In general, I am not a fan of coffees with 3rd wave "fruitiness" or a lot of acidity. Using "standard" parameters (20g in a 20g Decent basket, 201 deg and 1.5:1 to 2:1 ratio in 25 to 30ish seconds), I think I am getting a lot more bright acidity than I prefer... Of course my palate isn't really that refined when it comes to flavor profiling! Almost "sourish" notes. Similar between the two blends, but the Cafe Malta seems a bit more muted and more to my liking. This morning I tried a finer grind with the Malta (first drops at around 12 seconds and 2:1 ratio at around 45 seconds) and I thought it was better.
Over the weekend I did some experimenting with Another_Jim's flash boiling check so I think my PID offset is giving me close to the correct temperature. I guess my tastebuds just gravitate towards higher extraction levels? I blame that on my grandfather introducing me to coffee at a young age... Of course his version of coffee was thick swill from a percolator that had been cooking for a few hours!

Trying to get the "standard" method dialed in first before I try playing with flow profiling (coffee sensor flow control device installed on my machine)...

Any further suggestions to try?

Edited to add that the roast date on both bags was 4/6 so I was about 5 days post roast on the 700 and 6 days on the Malta when I started using them.

Josh

That's very strange that you would get fruitiness or high acidity with Kaldi's 700. That coffee is most definitely a chocolate/caramel bomb and it is usually roasted to FC or FC+ with the oils sometimes showing.

jrham12 wrote:So I tried both the 700 and the Cafe malta... Still playing with them using my Lido-E hand grinder for single dosing. In general, I am not a fan of coffees with 3rd wave "fruitiness" or a lot of acidity. Using "standard" parameters (20g in a 20g Decent basket, 201 deg and 1.5:1 to 2:1 ratio in 25 to 30ish seconds), I think I am getting a lot more bright acidity than I prefer... Of course my palate isn't really that refined when it comes to flavor profiling! Almost "sourish" notes. Similar between the two blends, but the Cafe Malta seems a bit more muted and more to my liking. This morning I tried a finer grind with the Malta (first drops at around 12 seconds and 2:1 ratio at around 45 seconds) and I thought it was better.
Over the weekend I did some experimenting with Another_Jim's flash boiling check so I think my PID offset is giving me close to the correct temperature. I guess my tastebuds just gravitate towards higher extraction levels? I blame that on my grandfather introducing me to coffee at a young age... Of course his version of coffee was thick swill from a percolator that had been cooking for a few hours!

Trying to get the "standard" method dialed in first before I try playing with flow profiling (coffee sensor flow control device installed on my machine)...

Any further suggestions to try?

Edited to add that the roast date on both bags was 4/6 so I was about 5 days post roast on the 700 and 6 days on the Malta when I started using them.

Josh

I would grind finer for sure (which it sounds like you did on the Malta). My first shot with the Kaldi 700 had some cherry flavor but I was 4-5 days post roast with a shot time of 28 seconds. I adjusted to around a 40-45 second shot time and it completely disappeared. How many days post roast is it? What is your pre-infusion time? I have also noticed some changes as I went through the bag and it has aged. Today was the last day of the 700, and each day the caramel has decreased and chocolate seems to increase. Never any acidity though. My final conclusion on the 700 for flavor is caramel predominates with chocolate secondary. I would recommend sticking with 2:1 ratio aiming for 45 second shot time, and preinfuse as part of that if you aren't already. Can't comment on the Cafe Malta, but that is the next bag on tap. Opening it up tomorrow morning!

For anyone following along this thread, here are my notes on the Kaldi Cafe Malta. First of all, as has been mentioned, this is a much darker roast than the Kaldi 700. There were oil droplets on the beans, which is much darker than I usually go.
Well, I struggled to dial in this coffee. As in, I used up half the 12 oz bag before I finally feel like I have it dialed in. I was getting way too much of the roasted flavors (malt/roasty/smoky) and not as much sweetness. So I shortened up the preinfusion, coarsened the grind, and lowered the temperature. It wasn't till I had done all three that I feel like it's dialed in for me.
My parameters on the BDB are:
18 grams in, 42 out, 3 second preinfusion, 198 temp, 30 second shot time.
Flavor profile (to me) is: Bittersweet chocolate dominant, slight caramel, moderate sweetness, faint malt/roasty. Trying to use the SCAA flavor wheel to improve my descriptions!
At the end of the day, this is too dark a roast for my taste, but was fun to try. And I didn't feel this was easy to dial in (for me).
Have a few more days left, then on to a couple from Black Oak, then a spring blend from Northbound (week #6), then some from temple. All in the chocolatey/comfort range. Feeling like after all that, it will be time to switch spectrums, and will explore some more floral/fruity blends. Good stuff!

jrham12 wrote:Iowa_boy, Glad to hear that! I have a bag of Kaldi's 700 on the way along with a bag of their Cafe Malta to try out. Can you detail what parameters you are using for your shot?

Thanks!
Josh

Hi Josh,

Been using Kaldi's Espresso 700 as one of my morning go-to coffees. Notes are right on to what Iowa_Boy said. Caramel, lightly nutty, with a chocolate finish. Here are my parameters using my BDB.

18g in
36g out (1:2 ratio)
30 sec. (total time including 15 sec. preinfusion...first drops at 12-13 sec.)
197F (up to 200F)

Best to you...hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

BaristaBob