Maybe asking a lot, less fruit, more robust, but not smoky espresso - Page 4

#31: Post by **Hodjula** » December 12th, 2020, 3:41 pm

Our daily espresso is the Maui Red Catuai. None of that sourness. None of that green apple acidity. None of that peach or blueberry. None of that pre-infusion. None of that. Straight up perfect chocolate peanut butter with frothy crema on top. Give it a swirl. Or not. If you want none of that. $25/pound roasted fresh ships from Kauai. Usually gets here to WA in two days. I order 4 pounders pretty frequently. Maui Red Cat is a great base for coffee exploration. I use it for all my at home blends dosing in specialty coffees from the world over. Its got perfect sweetness in the cup. By itself. Liquid gold. Likes a coarse grind imo. It's usually close to the coarsest my grinder will go. Coarse for espresso which is still quite fine. I dose into a paper cup. I put about half the cup in and counter tap the portafilter to settle. Then pour in the rest. Then flat finger twist and wipe off any extra. I compress from the corners first and then just enough pressure where you feel it's compressed and compact. But if you did none of that. And just did it your way. You'd still probably be surprised that perfection is possible. I brew at 197F on my BDB. No preinfuse. No clocks. No timers. Just straight into a warmed shot glass. Aim for some needle like drips that may not come together at once but will by the end and by the time the flavor melds its time to stop. Stir. Pour. Serve. Enjoy. Hugs. Kisses. That Holiday Cheer. Give Tom a call. He's a sweet Australian chap recently transplanted to Kauai via Japan. He probably didn't expect to spend his first year of gourmet coffee roasting residency in Kauai on Lockdown. I recently tried their Kona Peaberry and it's basically Maui Red Cat on steroids. If Maui Red Cat and Panama Elida got married they'd have little Kona Peaberry babies.

December 13th, 2020, 2:49 pm

That sounds delicious--you could be their spokesperson/salesman. I typically don't even like opening most of my espresso blends til at least 5 days post roast. Don't know if this sounds normal, but when I've opened a bag 3-4 days post roast cuz I ran out of beans with not ordering correctly--the espresso ran out of the portafilter like fat waves. That seemed to 'clear' up and come out normal after the 5-6 day post roast. Don't get it, just thought maybe that is how it 'acts' when too fresh yet. I try to work it out where I can get my beans no matter where I'm ordering them from by no later than 7 days post roast--especially if I'm ordering more than a pound. I do have an Airscape container that I recently put a pound in and finished it yesterday. No sense at all about staleness--still tasted great, and I had gone through a pound just keeping it in the original bag and a ziplock in a dark cupboard. I typically go through one pound in 12-14 days (depending on if I'm trying to dial in a new bean and wasting a number of shots before that happens).
I'm in the USA, Wisconsin. I'm very tempted to try this. It is very expensive though for 1 lb at $25. Looked at the site online--Kauai Coffee, they sell it for $36 for 1 1/2 pounds. Contacted them about how long it would take to get to Milwaukee, WI and what the shipping would be. thanks.

December 13th, 2020, 11:53 pm

DaveB wrote:I noticed with the dark Scarlet City Warp Drive (RIP)

RIP? as in Roast In Parchment?

December 15th, 2020, 3:48 am

Sadly, Scarlett closed. Warp Drive was really perfect to my desires. Any clue where the talent went?

December 15th, 2020, 3:56 am

Jen St Hilaire was the owner/roaster. She trained under David Schomer, of VIvace. I believe she relocated out of CA, perhaps back to WA? Vivace Vita is about the closest you can come to Warp Drive.

December 15th, 2020, 9:14 am

Markgrubb@aol.com wrote:Sadly, Scarlett closed. Warp Drive was really perfect to my desires. Any clue where the talent went?

Talent indeed. Arguably, as far as coffee is concerned, Jen was Antonio Stradivari to David Schomer's Nicolò Amati...

December 16th, 2020, 12:09 am

Agreed. A real loss. Malabar Gold is close but not Warp Drive in flavor, texture or intensity. Still miss it.

December 16th, 2020, 12:15 am

Have been drinking Theodore's based on recommendations in this post. It is as-described. Chocolate, coffee, rich, very smooth. Not very complex. Very forgiving.

Just what the OP was looking for, imo.

#39: Post by **joe mendez** » December 16th, 2020, 3:47 pm

Bird Rock blend from Bird Rock roasters fits the profile. Not very complex but has fudge like flavors, medium-dark, non-oily beans, not smoky, and to top it off its organic.