Looking for a New Medium Roast Espresso for Cappuccinos - Page 2

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
Jebez (original poster)
Posts: 174
Joined: 13 years ago

#11: Post by Jebez (original poster) »

SAllen wrote:I exclusively make cappuccinos and highly recommend the Pacifica Espresso from Third Coast Coffee roasters here in Austin. You can read its reviews on Third Coast's website and it's just $11 a pound.
Thank you @SAllen. Wow... what a bargain! I'm heading over to their website right now!
It's great to know that there are still quality beans available at reasonable prices.
And thank goodness for this forum and its wonderful members!

PhilthyCoffee
Posts: 102
Joined: 3 years ago

#12: Post by PhilthyCoffee »

I live near La Colombe's main factory, and earlier in my coffee journey I really enjoyed their offerings. Ton of nostalgia there for me. However, they seem to shoot for a commerical "sweet spot" which I kind of fell out of interest in. Kind of like a hybrid of Starbucks and a typical third wave operation. Their light roasts are more like "medium" and tend to be roasted in a pretty similar manner, typically but some stuff is a little more interesting. Nizza I would say is definitely on the darker side. Verve, I would say, falls somewhere between La Colombe and your traditional third wave coffee operation.

For a true "medium" check out Passenger Coffee, about 2 hours away from La Colombe in Lancaster, and try the Montecarlos. Much more complex flavors, goes great with milk and it "scales" well as you try different ratios of milk. It's so delicious, blows away sermon, streetlevel, and nizza, imo. Pricing is very fair and 2lb bags are the same as 5lb. And they do small bags (5oz) of their specialty roasts stuff to try out, which is always fun. Just my $.02.

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Jebez (original poster)
Posts: 174
Joined: 13 years ago

#13: Post by Jebez (original poster) replying to PhilthyCoffee »

Thank you @PhilthyCoffee for your input and suggestions. I appreciate it. I just received my bag of Nizza, and will give it a try in a few days. Passenger's Montecsrlos sounds interesting, and I'll check that out in their site. I'm currently going through a bag so their Stowaway (rather pricey). Three or four shots in, and I'm not very impressed - but I won't cast a final verdict just yet.

Jebez (original poster)
Posts: 174
Joined: 13 years ago

#14: Post by Jebez (original poster) »

I opened the box of Nizza last night and was astounded to find that the beans were not just dark - but looked more like French Roast. I don't know what criteria this roaster uses to determine what defines a medium roast, but I'd sure hate to order anything from them that they've labeled as dark. I was also disappointed to see the absence of a roast date. But who knows... maybe it'll taste good despite the dark roast.

Milligan
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#15: Post by Milligan replying to Jebez »

Weird. The Brazil Beleza I just got from them a few weeks ago had a roast date and it was within 10 days when I received it in the mail. Is the Nizza bean oily? The one I had had zero oil. Sorry to hear your experience is starting off on the bad side.

Jebez (original poster)
Posts: 174
Joined: 13 years ago

#16: Post by Jebez (original poster) replying to Milligan »

Thank you @Milligan. I didn't open the plastic bag yet, but the best I can tell looking at the beans through the plastic bag, is that the beans don't appear to be oily. It's odd that the Brazil Beleza you received had a roast date. From everything I've read online, (perhaps only with Nizza) La Columbe doesn't print roast dates on their beans.

Milligan
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#17: Post by Milligan replying to Jebez »

Hmmm, wish I hadn't thrown the packaging away. I distinctly remember seeing a roast date and being thankful that I received a fresh roast because shipping took longer than expected. It is possible that my recollection failed me. I've had quite a few different coffees in over the last few months.

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PhilthyCoffee
Posts: 102
Joined: 3 years ago

#18: Post by PhilthyCoffee »

La Colombe lowered their standards a few years back by abandoning roast dates on all but their single origin and workshop blends. They used to always have a roast date, until it became a commerical liability. And yes, Nizza is darker than any respectable medium should be.

Passenger is roasted lighter than what most "2.5 wave" coffee drinkers are used to. You've got to brew it hotter (205 probably for that Stowaway) and run it longer (1:2.5 ratio) I had their Keystone and wasn't a huge fan as an espresso, enjoyed it well enough as filter brew though. The Montecarlos I felt was a much better pairing with milk, with cocoa and clementine coming though clearly. Great with or without milk.

gobucks
Posts: 239
Joined: 2 years ago

#19: Post by gobucks »

Another recommendation for George Howell. I've only had a couple so far (Alchemy and Dota), and both have been fantastic. Alchemy is a medium roast comfort blend, and I think Dota is one of their newer options, it's a bit lighter, but still pretty easy to work with. They also have a Dota vienna roast which sounds interesting, but I haven't tried it yet.

And I also agree that La Colombe has gone downhill. I ordered some during a recent 2-for-1 sale, no roast date, and it was packaged like grocery store coffee. Both were pretty bad, I ended up making cold brew out of them because I didn't want to suffer through a whole bag for espresso.

nameisjoey
Posts: 495
Joined: 4 years ago

#20: Post by nameisjoey »

Has anyone recommended Temple Coffee's Dharma Espresso? It's super good and goes great in milk. Stands on its own just wonderfully also.