I received a special Christmas present from PT's that included the Finca El Patio which was the Costa Rica Cup Of Excellence #20 coffee. The roast is light, which is my personal preference for most coffees, and it is listed as a Single Origin espresso.

PT's describes the coffee as

In the cup it is honeyed, full bodied and has a great dark chocolate and spicy finish

I was eager to try out this coffee as a SO espresso. My initial results were not that good. While the coffee was OK, I was pretty flat and lifeless in the cup. Over the next couple of days I played with the brew temperature and extraction amount. I started with a 198F extraction at 1.75 ounces at a 14 gram dose and worked my way up the scale in 1 degree increments. At 201 the coffee shifted flavor and texture. A small adjustment in the dose and extraction and the coffee came into its element. I am currently pulling shots at 201-202F with a 15 gram dose for 1.5 ounces in 30 seconds from an Elektra A3. The body developed and the sweetness came out, it reminds me of honey glaze for a doughnut but not as super sweet. The mouth is creamy and coating like butter and I do get some dark chocolate in the finish.

When I pulled shots using the Elektra Microcasa Leva the coffee really popped and the acidity stood out. I would not call this a high acidity coffee but it is lively. That is a trait the Microcasa accentuates. The cup was also slightly sweeter and the mouth feel was even creamier.

Here is where I run out of ways to describe the coffee. The coffee is not berry, fruited, nutty, earthy, smoky etc... It possesses a clean flavor void of these and other flavors. It is simply clean, refreshing and tastes like coffee for the lack of a better term. There is something in there but I have not been able to put a label on the flavor.

It also makes a nice press pot and drip but the body suffers when brewed as a drip cup.

cannonfodder wrote:The roast is light, which is my personal preference for most coffees, and it is listed as a Single Origin espresso.

I've tried the El Patio from PTs twice. The first time the roast was light as you describe whereas a month later, this coffee was roasted much darker with visible oils. Has anyone else noticed inconsistency between PTs roasts or was this a fluke?

I had taken a photo when I opened the bag but had not pulled it off of my camera when I put up the post. Here is the coffee in a white demi. There are a few small spots of surface oil on some of the beans but it is not a 100% occurrence. Some beans are void of surface oils, which is not uncommon in a lighter roast.

I really enjoyed the PT's Finca El Patio as an espresso. I've not done much with SO espresso, and if you're in the same boat, this might be a good coffee to try out. It seemed to be pretty temperature tolerant, I started out lowish (~198) and finished high (~202). The espresso is bright but not jarringly so. No mouth puckering.

I had three press pots of this coffee as well. The first press pot I found to be a very clean and smooth cup, but nothing in particular about it grabbed me. But the third press pot was a very nice cinnamon cup.