oconee wrote:I would suppose that their blends contain some amount of robusta? Perhaps this is one reason they might stay usable longer?

That will be good to ask. I've been dialing in their Neapolitan espresso blend on my E61 machine this morning. It has rich mouthfeel, ample crema, and is very smooth. I pulled 17 1/2 gm at moderate temperature (still waiting for my thermocouple but guesstimate 200 F), 25 second ristretto pour. There's a slight ashiness long into the finish that I was trying to overcome overall. This temperature minimized that. I may try updosing a bit to see if I can bring out more flavors and sugar. 2 degrees cooler and 18 gm dose makes it overwhelmingly sweeter in a way that's less balanced and brings out milk chocolate/praline and just a hint of fruit, but the latter is subtle. If you know someone who thinks espresso is always harsh and bitter, this is a really good coffee to help them overcome the over-roasted battery acid test. I think I'll also try it on my manual lever to better discern the flavors, which get blended together on an E61 machine.

Last week I dialed in the Golden Gate blend at 18 gm, about 208 F (yes, very hot compared to anything else I've pulled), about 25 seconds, near ristretto. Luigi had recommended 205 - 208 F, 19 gm in a double basket, yielding 24 - 28 gm liquid. I'll have to try that again soon to give some taste impressions.

I'll be meeting Luigi sometime in January or February.

Just stopped by their Coffee Bar on Montgomery Street in San Francisco and had a shot of their Neapolitan blend. It's a darker roast but was expertly prepared, ground on an electronic Mazzer Robur, then a nutating tamp and a nice, ristretto pull on a La Marzocco Strada. Very balanced, some bittersweet chocolate and a hint of nutty flavor, good mouthfeel and mild, more roast than varietal flavors but a good example of its kind. They offered me a shot glass of sparkling water but I didn't drink it because I wanted the flavor to linger.

What do you think of Graffeo and Freed, Teller and Freed? I kind of enjoy Graffeo's light roast myself -- they keep it really simple. It's been a long time since I've tried Freed, Teller and Freed, and I liked them, but that was before I came across the current coffee scene.

These last few days I've been trying their Guatemala Estate Finca La Maravilla, Huehuetenango, which I found works for a SO espresso. The label describes "elegant floral aroma, layers of citrus and chocolate, sweet lingering aftertaste." The online description notes a velvety body. I found that mouthfeel and all of these flavors plus leather in the aftertaste that doesn't overwhelm. It's earthy but not muddy. The aroma in the bag has been wonderful, rich and round, no charcoal smells.

My prep notes here are scant because I'm still dialing in my -2K Europiccola and Pharos. I've been trying 15.5 gm doubles. The florals appeared when I pulled a bit cool as an 8.5 gm single, which also brought out some lemony acidity that wasn't overwhelming. Doubles yielded a balanced "coffee that tastes like coffee" whose flavor punches through the milk in a very chocolatey capp. The 8 oz. bag I bought in the store has a "best if brewed" date of February 14, and I bought it 1/18 or 19. So they must roast a month ahead of their "best if" date. By today (1/24) it was still good, but the florals were fading, so I wouldn't age it nearly that long. When I visit next week I'll ask why there isn't a roast date. The beans themselves appeared to be City, maybe Full City roast. Here's the link to the description on their site:

http://mrespresso.com/coffee/single-origin/

My First Visit to Mr Espresso, 1/31/12

I just got back from an amazing visit today at Mr Espresso in Oakland, where I was hosted by Luigi Di Ruocco. He introduced me to his dad, Carlo, Mr Espresso himself, and I visited at some length with Luigi's brother, John, the head roaster, and perhaps another brother who was very involved in the company. Their family business is in a large commercial building near Jack London Square, worth seeing in its own right. Mr Espresso, the company, has some history and significant vintage machines on site. But it's obviously a thriving business that roasts and repairs commercial machines at a fairly large scale for an independent company.

When I arrived, Luigi offered me some shots of their Gold Medal blend, which he pulled on the new Faema machine on their counter, fed by an electronic Robur. He took care to pull a few shots to dial in the flavors. It was mellow, chocolaty, with rich mouthfeel.

Here's that counter. The photos that follow were all taken with his permission.



When entering the place, I saw that they had commissioned a number of wonderful posters. I didn't get pictures of those, but maybe next time I'll do that if they don't mind. Here are some more photos of the showroom.



Some close-ups of that left wall, starting with what looks like two Belle Epoques:



And the home machines. The MCAL is offered for sale, but not the Faemina and Caravel (second and third from the top left):



There are vintage coffee makers behind the counter



and an employee who enjoyed my photographing the place!



They also have a Faema E61 Jubilee (anniversary re-make) on display:



and a variety of other Faema commercial machines:



and large commercial grinders:



Plus a sculpture commemorating Carlo's long career. Look closely for the Faemina boiler.



Later Luigi pulled a shot of the Gold Medal blend emphasizing the bittersweet chocolate and suggested I try it with a demitasse spoonful of sugar. This was an eye opener. I liked the espresso unsweetened but loved the way it tasted with sugar. He said that in the Italian tradition it's roasted to be consumed that way. He told me his father adds sugar when evaluating espresso and that in Naples, where a straight shot often tastes very bitter, adding sugar brings out the intended flavor. Contrary to what I've learned in Third Wave coffee, I really don't think these folks are masking or correcting flavors with sugar. They are simply roasting in a more traditional way. I hope to get to know them better and have them explain this more fully. I write this after spending about an hour and a half with Luigi, touring their operation, tasting many kinds of roasted beans, seeing truckloads of greens from around the world, some of them Rain Forest Alliance. For example, he showed me some freshly roasted Robusta beans that constitute about 10% of a traditional Italian blend, with other constituent coffees being Brazilian and Central American. He said these were a premium robusta used for body and crema and when I tasted and smelled these beans they didn't have any of the rubber tire flavor that gives robusta a bad reputation. He also said that some of their espresso blends contain nine varietals.

There were three large roasters all fueled by oak. The one I looked at closely is computer controlled for roast profiling. Here's how that looks from the front. To give you a sense of scale, the cooling tray is about six or seven feet across. The assembly behind the back of the machine is about two stories high. To the right was a stack of oak logs split and ready to go.



The beans from the cooling tray flowed from a chute directly into a packaging line, where the consumer-sized bags are packed in nitrogen with a one-way valve in the bag. Luigi and I discussed labeling, aging and preservation of coffee, and I'll start a separate thread where he can answer our questions about that. My sense is these folks focus on quality and do it in both a traditional style and with some roasts that are more in line with Third Wave preferences.

Nice, huh? You ain't seen nuthin' yet. Wait 'til I show you some of the vintage commercial machines in the warehouse ...

Espresso History Under Wraps

Early in our visit Luigi took me through their warehouse. The amount of greens awaiting roasting was impressive, along with huge stacks of oak logs. We began walking past shelving that housed commercial machines awaiting repair. These started being vintage machines. We turned a corner and my jaw dropped as I confronted this six-group Brugnetti Aurora under wraps! This machine is larger than it looks in the photo. Carlo imported it early in his career and it was in the Caffe Mediterraneum in Berkeley where it's said the latte was invented. Tell that to the appraisers at Antiques Roadshow!



This beauty was sitting right next to it:



Underneath it was a La San Marco copper clad commercial lever, and it appeared to be a single group machine. Luigi was telling me about their business at this point, but I admit I'd become a little distracted!

On the shelf behind that sat this two-group Faema Urania.



Here's the back of it. The rim appears to be solid brass:



In another room on the way to the roasting area, we came upon this machine that may be a Faema President. I'm uncertain whether it's that model or a Urania. I didn't get a look at the back to tell for sure.



Apparently there are plans for these pieces of history, which they restore in-house.

My visit concluded by Luigi offering some beans to take home and a shot for the road that I described above, where he suggested I add sugar (I tried it without, there were not defects, but the sugar added something worthwhile). So I'll try their Golden Gate and Espresso Di Carlo blends at home. He'll also send some fresh beans for us to try at the lever fest at my home on 2/11.

So here I was, mid-day at Jack London Square in Oakland, very nicely caffeinated. And right there was Everett and Jones where I feasted on their barbecued chicken. Not a bad day.

Thank you, Jason. My favorite was the first one too. I went to the David Lance Goines' web site and found a link about poster 185. The page that features it has a wonderful, tongue-in-cheek history of coffee and politics. http://www.goines.net/Poster_art7/poster_185.html

It can be ordered here: http://www.goines.net/poster_art.html