Saka Caffè in the States - Page 3

#21: Post by **drgary** » January 29th, 2021, 4:57 pm

Caramel is kind of what I got, if you can imagine caramel incense.

#22: Post by **Balthazar_B** » January 29th, 2021, 7:16 pm

drgary wrote:My white strip had no roast date.

I missed it on mine the first two times I looked. It's printed *very* faintly in dot matrix.

#23: Post by **dparrish** » January 30th, 2021, 11:59 am

I will have to try doing a video later to show just how THICK my shots are coming out with the Gran Bar sent to me by Ryan. I've had Passalacqua Miscela di Napoli (which has a bit of robusta in it I think), but I was totally unprepared for the luscious and thick nature of this coffee. The crema is unbelievable! Still playing with parameters, but I'm going with a higher volume as I like milk drinks. 20g in/28g out so far. I have temp at 202 but plan to lower it a bit for more sweetness. But I can say that I am very impressed with the chocolate and nutty notes in a cappuccino. Initial impressions are, wow, FRESH Italian coffee is a treat!

#24: Post by **drgary** » January 30th, 2021, 12:30 pm

Balthazar_B wrote:I missed it on mine the first two times I looked. It's printed *very* faintly in dot matrix.

Nope. I triple checked top and bottom.

Also, I'm liking the all Arabica blend more ristretto, at a 1:1.5 ratio. I still add sugar to bring out more flavors and can get to something like bittersweet chocolate.

January 30th, 2021, 2:47 pm

Try a tiny bit of salt. We did that this morning with the Classic Bar and it seems to intensify flavor separation. Since we've been slow-cooking carnitas the past couple of days, though, our house isn't scent-neutral enough to discern everything in detail going on in the coffee. But characteristally it's squarely like the coffee we've gotten in the morning at bars and cafes all over Italy, and we're enjoying it very much. We'll be able to focus on it more closely in a couple of days.

January 30th, 2021, 10:13 pm

Im halfway thru my first bag of classic, hesitant to open another bag until i get a single dose grinder. Im wasting to much coffee on my Ceado. The classic has been a treat, next up will be gran tho.

#27: Post by **slybarman** » January 30th, 2021, 11:21 pm

I've only pulled a few of the classic and still getting it dialed in. A few observations I can make are that, compared to the Cartapani I was drinking just prior, the classic has a ton of body to it. I am guessing that is the result of the freshness primarily and maybe the particular robusta used. Also, I was dosing the Cartapani at 14.5g in a 14g basket. I tried that with the classic and ended up with a ton of coffee stuck to the shower screen. I had to take it back down to 14 max.

The first two shots I did not use preinfusion. They were decent, but a bit more harsh then the latter two where I did do a short preinfusion. That seemed to help soften the edges a bit. I don't typically measure my outputs but I am going to check mine tomorrow to see where I'm at. The amount of crema might be throwing things off a bit.

So far it's good, but I know I can get it to be sweeter.

ETA: I forgot to mention, the caffeine content seems to be up there. I had the sweats after my second cup yesterday.

#28: Post by **slybarman** » January 31st, 2021, 8:07 am

Weighed the first one this morning and concluded I had over extracted the first few. Pulled it shorter for the second one and also lowered the temp just a bit. bitterness is down, smoothness and sweetness is up. Getting more chocolate notes this morning.

Not a great pour or photo, but you get the idea.

.

#29: Post by **GC7** » February 1st, 2021, 8:54 am

slybarman wrote:I've only pulled a few of the classic and still getting it dialed in. A few observations I can make are that, compared to the Cartapani I was drinking just prior, the classic has a ton of body to it. I am guessing that is the result of the freshness primarily and maybe the particular robusta used. Also, I was dosing the Cartapani at 14.5g in a 14g basket. I tried that with the classic and ended up with a ton of coffee stuck to the shower screen. I had to take it back down to 14 max.

Thanks for your preliminary review. I've tried the Cartapani and still have about half of a bag in the deep freezer for future use. I found it to be a pleasant blend with a nuts and chocolate upfront flavor profile that fits well with milk. It was not a thick crema filled espresso but the extra caffeine was apparent. I would be interested to hear more of your direct comparisons of the Saka blends with the Cartapani. Thanks.

February 1st, 2021, 9:35 am

The Saka has tons more body and mouthfeel. The Saka is (so far anyway) not quite as sweet as the Cartapani, but I'm still working on that. I don't think I have reached the Saka's full potential yet. Flavor of the Saka is stronger. I found the Cartapani to be quite pleasant as you said, but the flavor was somewhat mild/muted. I got more nuttiness/caramel from the Cartapani, I am more dark cocoa from the Saka. I am not sure how much of that had to do with age. The Saka is much fresher than the Cartapani I got. It would be very interesting to me to be able to compare a fresh bag of both, I suspect the difference would narrow quite a bit.