Couldn't hold out for another day or two so pulled one shot this morning; and glad I didn't wait longer. Mixed with local non-homogenized whole milk as a tight cappuccino so the bean flavor came through high strength but tempered with good micro-foam milk; the way I enjoy espresso most of the time in the morning.

Opened the bag and the kitchen was almost immediately perfumed with big floral bouquet, as Dan mentioned, which carried right over to the espresso grounds. I did a Slayer pull, by grinding fine (for this level of roast and bean blend type) and did a slow, gentle pre-brew (pre-infusion for non-Slayer vocabulary ) until 6-grams of espresso were in the cup (about 30-seconds or a little more until the first drops appeared in the cup) followed by full brew until 22-24grams total in cup then back to pre-brew until I had 32-33 grams total espresso weight.

I get a fruit forward but complex cup. I think I get the leathery notes Jim mentioned or something similar but definitely not nuts and not chocolate; a nice counter-poise to the fruit. I wouldn't call it a "fruit bomb" as its more complex to me than that...right up my alley for sure!

As Dan mentioned, I do hope the very enjoyable taste profile hangs on and doesn't fade rapidly as is often the situation with many/most natural processed beans.

Very excited about this offer so a big thank you to Dan and Klatch for putting it together for us. Lots of fun and learning for me too!

I spent the afternoon with it as well. I find it very tunable blend: coarser grinds and cooler temps bring out the Elida's fruit and flowers; finer grinds and hotter temps bring out the Guji's chocolate-leather Yemen style notes. My personal preference is mostly the Yemen notes with a berry on top; but it can be pulled all the way from one way to the other.

This is a pricey coffee with two high end ingredients; but for me personally, it's well worth the money, a mid 90s blend, as good as anything I've had in the last five years.

So, I wanted to order more of this...V1(?) but looks like its off the shelf and they're on to V2. Dang.

The Elida I've had before was roasted very light (at Brown Coffee in SATX), so you can imagine my shock when I opened the bag to find out that this blend is on the darker side of medium. I am using a 17 gram dose on Dan's advice, with a traditional 2:1 ratio. I have my temperature at 201º F as per Klatch.

When I dialed in for 35 seconds (pump on to pump off, no pre-infusion), I got a slight tartness with dominant roast notes, like a high-quality dark chocolate. Taking my grind size just slightly coarser (a touch under 30 seconds for the pull), I get a ton of sweetness, with a very balanced berry note that's an absolute delight. This is definitely out of my roast level comfort zone, but I am loving it so far! I want to try it in an Americano soon, but haven't been able to because of my present love affair with the rich, velvety texture of this coffee as espresso. On a purely aesthetic note, the crema this produces is espressoporn-worthy.

My friend mwebber blessed me with a bag of Golden Bean Espresso. I've been trying to savor it, but it's so good that I've already gone through half. Didn't take too long to get a decent, fairly fine grind with my Pharos (wouldn't you know it, on loan from mwebber ). Followed bag instructions for 20 g in and about 35 g out each time. I'm a big fan of the balance between the darker, roastier flavors and the fruity acidity. I tend to like things darker and less acidic, but this blend hits the spot. It also has a consistently great crema, so I wanted to share some pictures!

Thanks to the HB team and Klatch for making this possible. It's quite an honor to be selected, even if a bit scary as I can only offer inexpert opinions based on my tastes, skill, and gear.

Golden Bean; Experimental Version 1 - 10/19 Roast

Roasted on Monday, the USPS package arrived on Thursday and I started working with it on Saturday.

Gear here is a Niche Zero with around 5 kg through it, a DE1+ with VST 18 as its typical basket, and a Robot. Local boil is at 208°F / 98°C

The more I've learned about coffee, the more I've learned what I don't know about coffee. I used to consider cupping as a "waste" of good beans. Back in the days when all espresso blends tasted just about the same, what you were shooting for was pretty well known. Having since moved to progressively lighter roasts and SO coffees over the years, that's no longer the case. Cupping gives me some hints as to what's there, both good and bad, and hopefully not chase the impossible.

I had been pulling an Ethiopian Duromina (2019), demucilaged from George Howell, so I cupped the Klatch side by side for comparison. I cup at 12/200 and a filter grind. The fine grind isn't terribly forgiving of dark roasts, but I generally drink lighter roasts.

The Klatch was very fragrant on opening the bag, a fruity, tropical aroma. This came through in the grinds. To my poorly trained eye, it was a medium or medium-dark roast.

The Duromina presented tea-like flavors, with balanced acidity as it cooled. The sweetness grew as it cooled, with a slight bitterness edging in at 20 min.

The Klatch had very strong and enjoyable tropical fruit flavors, that weren't as sharp as pineapple, more like mango. It seemed to have slightly higher acidity than the Duromina, as well as a slight edge of bitterness. Not a smack-you-in-the-face acidity, just a bit brighter. As it cooled, the mango receded some and the sweetness declined as the "leather" notes revealed beneath. "Leather" is a word I struggled with as it usually doesn't have good connotations to me. Definitely a warm, savory flavor and not off-putting like chewing on a shoelace might be. As it cooled further, the bitterness also raised a bit.

Based on that, I decided to try to highlight the mango and keep the warm leather flavors as a background against which to enjoy the bright, tropical flavors.

I used my normal dose of 17 g in the basket (I have a SI200IM shower screen that reduces head space over the more typical, flat CI200IM) and ended up with a grind coarser than what I use for ultra-light and light roasts,

I first dialed in with the Default DE1 profile, a basic fill and extract at 8.6 bar, declining slightly with time. The results were enjoyable, with the mango present and sometimes tending toward orange. These shots were pulled 17.0 g in, 1:2, in 30-35 seconds from "pump on".

For one used to light roasts, the amount and stability of crema was quite a surprise!

Some of my best results were with a profile that emulates the La Marzocco Leva's delivered pressure. It is a moderate pressure, early infusion and hold, followed by an 8-bar extraction that tapers over the duration of the shot. (Graph below) 17.0 g in, 1:2.5, in 35-40 seconds from "pump on".

For both profiles, reducing the temperature by 1°C from "normal" helped me keep the bitterness down and enjoy the fruit and warm background.

It worked well with the same grind in the Robot, though I'd probably go a tiny bit finer next time as the flow was a bit faster than I expected. I preheated the piston with a cup of off-the-boil water and used a pour-over, empty, refill approach on the prepped basked and PF handle. The fruit was accented, but without any excessive acidity.

Based on the Robot shot, I might try even cooler with the DE1.

It seems that the fruit flavors (I'm guessing from the fermentation process) faded over the three days. I keep my active stock in a simple, 1 liter canister on the counter, out of the sun. My notes from yesterday say "fruitiness -> kiwi, melon" and I found similar in both the DE1 and Robot shots this morning. I re-cupped the Klatch and it still "read" mango to me, but not as strong as on Saturday.

All in all, a very enjoyable cup, distinctive enough to stand out in competitions, and playful enough to encourage me to try some of their other offerings in the series.

Thanks again for a chance to try a unique coffee!

I froze about 1 pound, or a little more, of what I bought and although its still very good...like many naturals I've played with over the years freezing isn't friendly to preserving the incredible fruit-forward profile (vac sealed in glass pint canning jars); even when it was in the freezer for less than a week.

Has anyone tried version 2 yet? My order is on the way...