Brazil Fazenda Cahoeira de Gramma from the Carvalho Diases.
Heirloom Yellow Bourbon, natural, raised screen bed.
2007 Harvest.
Another winner from Andrew Barnett at Ecco Caffe.
A simply lovely coffee, in all ways.
As espresso it's clean, sweet, elegant and polished. Extremely light on the palate with a wonderful soft and almost "fluffy" mouthfeel. Honey, some caramelized nectarine, a light filbert note. Wonderful tropical spice and floral aromas.
This is not an espresso for people who like "strong" coffee - but rather for those who appreciate flavour and balance. It's not idiosyncratic or "different."
It's just "right."
Be careful about pulling this coffee too hot. It takes a lower brew temp than you might expect. At even a single degree too high you'll lose the fruit and the floral notes and instead will end up with a coffee that is flat with noticeable "toast" flavours. Be brave... go cold.
Seems to respond best to mid-point doses (not too up... not too down).
It's very good in short milk drinks as well - but gets lost in tall ones.
Best, IMHO, as a straight shot where it really shines.
Nice one!!
5.15.2008
Sweet Tooth
Ritual's new espresso (Sweet Tooth) has settled in.
I've run through a couple pounds of it now.
Overall thoughts...
1 - This is a true "signature espresso" in the sense that it is a unique and personal espresso the represents the values, taste and goals of Ritual. That's something special - and something all coffee roasters should shoot for.
2 - It's not an espresso everyone is going to love.
3 - It's reasonably easy to work with - though I think home baristas with non-stabilized HX machines might struggle.
It's a very (very) well named coffee. First sips are dominated by intense sweetness (cane sugar, light, processed molasses, honey, touches of caramel) and floral notes (jasmine, rose). As the coffee cools it becomes quite tart and bright, with strong flavours of pomelo, green grape and persimmon. The sweetness continues, but the cup becomes dominated by the acidic fruit. In the end of the cup a nice pomegranate note emerges (though I do get some hints of astringency as well).
It does seem a little hollow however. It hits the center of the palate almost exclusively and there is a "hole" in the middle of the profile.
This hollowness become more noticeable when combined with milk - where the lack of the deeper darker tones results in "simplistic" profiles.
I found it best quite significantly updosed - and at a higher brew temp than I'd expected. Shot volume was good - and the shots look gorgeous in the cup.
Because of the tartness - I think home machines that have a declining brew temp could prove challenging. Shots could come out as noticeably sour in some cases. I'd suggest pulling shots quite short in this case.
Overall... a good espresso and a big step forward for Ritual.
I've run through a couple pounds of it now.
Overall thoughts...
1 - This is a true "signature espresso" in the sense that it is a unique and personal espresso the represents the values, taste and goals of Ritual. That's something special - and something all coffee roasters should shoot for.
2 - It's not an espresso everyone is going to love.
3 - It's reasonably easy to work with - though I think home baristas with non-stabilized HX machines might struggle.
It's a very (very) well named coffee. First sips are dominated by intense sweetness (cane sugar, light, processed molasses, honey, touches of caramel) and floral notes (jasmine, rose). As the coffee cools it becomes quite tart and bright, with strong flavours of pomelo, green grape and persimmon. The sweetness continues, but the cup becomes dominated by the acidic fruit. In the end of the cup a nice pomegranate note emerges (though I do get some hints of astringency as well).
It does seem a little hollow however. It hits the center of the palate almost exclusively and there is a "hole" in the middle of the profile.
This hollowness become more noticeable when combined with milk - where the lack of the deeper darker tones results in "simplistic" profiles.
I found it best quite significantly updosed - and at a higher brew temp than I'd expected. Shot volume was good - and the shots look gorgeous in the cup.
Because of the tartness - I think home machines that have a declining brew temp could prove challenging. Shots could come out as noticeably sour in some cases. I'd suggest pulling shots quite short in this case.
Overall... a good espresso and a big step forward for Ritual.
5.13.2008
New Harvest Competition Blend
I received a pound of the New Harvest Coffee Roaster's Competition Blend last week. Oddly enough, my cousin works there - and thought to send me some of the coffee. They're a little coffee roaster in Rhode Island.
I'm assuming that this is a sort of "one-off" espresso as it's not on their site.
Working with, and drinking, this espresso was a really interesting experience for me.
I've been spending a lot of time recently drinking coffees that strive for the sort of balance, finesse and sweet acidity that seems to be the emerging standard among a certain group of roasters. From the Hairbender through the various Ecco Caffe espressos to the Ritual Sweet Tooth to the random other coffees - there is a common thread here.
In addition, I've been drinking more and more espressos that, if not actually single origin, are at least made of very few beans.
As a result, I'd lost sight of the fact that there are other styles and approaches to espresso.
This Competition Blend is a representative of another type.
Instead of going for balance and finesse - it goes for flavour and "big-ness." It's definitely a "more is more" approach. It's all over the place - with bright berry notes and dried fruit; with bakers' chocolate and leather; toast and tobacco. If it were a beer it would be one of those Stone experimental Imperial Ales.
In milk, this approach worked out very well - with drinks that were dominated by the toast and chocolate notes and a nice sweet fruit note riding along the top. Even tall milk drinks still tasted of coffee. Nice.
As a straight shot, however, this was a bit of a palate hammer. The shear profusion of flavours was a bit much for me. Beyond that, however, hidden beneath all these flavours were some not so nice notes. There was an ashy and acrid note that lurked beneath the tobacco flavours - and a hint of mushroom emerged now and then.
That being said - honestly, this was a totally serviceable espresso in many ways. I drank it happily in short milk drinks. And saying "it's no Hairbender as a straight shot" is kind of unfair.
It was very easy to work with - and really tolerant of changes to extraction parameters.
It looked absolutely gorgeous in the cup.
More than that - it was really cool to be reminded that there are a lot of ways to skin this particular cat; that there are a ton of different ideas of what espresso is and should be.
And at the end of the day - it's all what you like.
I'm assuming that this is a sort of "one-off" espresso as it's not on their site.
Working with, and drinking, this espresso was a really interesting experience for me.
I've been spending a lot of time recently drinking coffees that strive for the sort of balance, finesse and sweet acidity that seems to be the emerging standard among a certain group of roasters. From the Hairbender through the various Ecco Caffe espressos to the Ritual Sweet Tooth to the random other coffees - there is a common thread here.
In addition, I've been drinking more and more espressos that, if not actually single origin, are at least made of very few beans.
As a result, I'd lost sight of the fact that there are other styles and approaches to espresso.
This Competition Blend is a representative of another type.
Instead of going for balance and finesse - it goes for flavour and "big-ness." It's definitely a "more is more" approach. It's all over the place - with bright berry notes and dried fruit; with bakers' chocolate and leather; toast and tobacco. If it were a beer it would be one of those Stone experimental Imperial Ales.
In milk, this approach worked out very well - with drinks that were dominated by the toast and chocolate notes and a nice sweet fruit note riding along the top. Even tall milk drinks still tasted of coffee. Nice.
As a straight shot, however, this was a bit of a palate hammer. The shear profusion of flavours was a bit much for me. Beyond that, however, hidden beneath all these flavours were some not so nice notes. There was an ashy and acrid note that lurked beneath the tobacco flavours - and a hint of mushroom emerged now and then.
That being said - honestly, this was a totally serviceable espresso in many ways. I drank it happily in short milk drinks. And saying "it's no Hairbender as a straight shot" is kind of unfair.
It was very easy to work with - and really tolerant of changes to extraction parameters.
It looked absolutely gorgeous in the cup.
More than that - it was really cool to be reminded that there are a lot of ways to skin this particular cat; that there are a ton of different ideas of what espresso is and should be.
And at the end of the day - it's all what you like.
5.06.2008
Tasting... coffee...
I've been remiss.
I've failed to paste tasting notes for, oh... let's just say a long (long) time.
I'm going to try and start being more responsible about this.
To make me more conscientious about it... I've decided that from now on whenever folks send me coffee samples (solicited or unsolicited) I'm going to post tasting notes.
So if you send me coffee - you'll get notes. And so will the rest of the world.
-c
PS. Congrats to Kyle Glanville. Nice work. And a big shout out to my boys Chris and Drew. Way to represent SF.
I've failed to paste tasting notes for, oh... let's just say a long (long) time.
I'm going to try and start being more responsible about this.
To make me more conscientious about it... I've decided that from now on whenever folks send me coffee samples (solicited or unsolicited) I'm going to post tasting notes.
So if you send me coffee - you'll get notes. And so will the rest of the world.
-c
PS. Congrats to Kyle Glanville. Nice work. And a big shout out to my boys Chris and Drew. Way to represent SF.
3.21.2008
4 barrel
9-5
in the Caledonia Alley (parallel to and between Valencia and Mission, between 14th and 15th).
hell yeah.
in the Caledonia Alley (parallel to and between Valencia and Mission, between 14th and 15th).
hell yeah.
2.09.2008
Ecco Experimental Espresso Batch #1
Andrew from Ecco Caffe kindly sent me some of the first batch from his "Experimental Espresso Program."
This was a 50/50 blend of two gorgeous Brazil CoE coffees.
The 2006 Fazenda Serra do Bone from Carlos Sergio Sanglard is one of my favorite SO espressos. This is a Catuai varietal from Matas de Minas - and took 4th in the Brazil CoE with a score of 91.93 points. As an SO shot is has incredible body and a lovely honey/caramel finish.
The 2006 Fazenda Pedra Preta from Guilherme Dias De Castro is a Yellow Bourbon from Carmo de Minas. It took 3rd in the Brazil CoE with a score of 92.24. As an SO shot this combined a lovely sweetness with intense floral/citrus high notes.
It took an enormous amount of courage (IMHO) for Andrew to create this blend. These are expensive and valuable CoE coffees and are very limited in supply.
Andrew's brewing instructions were very clear... 19grams in an LM double basket; 1.75oz double at 201.5F in 24-28 seconds.
I started by following these instructions and found that it produced a very dense shot with strong chocolate and burnt honey notes and a rich nutty, syrupy body. This was really pretty stunning in short milk drinks - but I felt that I could probably create an espresso that was more to my (personal) taste by tweaking these parameters a bit.
Initially I started by changing dose and brew temp, looking to coax out some of the high notes. With some experimentation, I found that a brew temp of a little over 200F and a dose of 17.5grams produced a shot that I found really lovely as a straight espresso. It had great sweet pink grapefruit high notes and a body of honey roasted pecan, powdered dutch cocoa and a lovely vanilla tone that reminds me of aged Flor de Cana rum. This extraction wasn't ideal with milk - but as a straight shot.... stunning.
I figured that there had to be a way to get the rich, syrup and caramel body of the first extraction with the sweet citrus and Flor de Cana notes. After a fair amount of trial and error - I discovered that going with the Synesso triple basket (with its rounded side walls); slightly down-dosed; and a brew temp of 200.5F yielded a 2.75oz shot that was - to put it bluntly - fucking glorious. Rich, dense, clean, transparent, sweet tangerine, candied nut, burnt honey, bittersweet chocolate, tropical flowers... and that lovely Flor de Cana finish. Lovely as a straight shot - with near perfect balance - and equally awesome as a cappuccino.
Life is good!
This was a 50/50 blend of two gorgeous Brazil CoE coffees.
The 2006 Fazenda Serra do Bone from Carlos Sergio Sanglard is one of my favorite SO espressos. This is a Catuai varietal from Matas de Minas - and took 4th in the Brazil CoE with a score of 91.93 points. As an SO shot is has incredible body and a lovely honey/caramel finish.
The 2006 Fazenda Pedra Preta from Guilherme Dias De Castro is a Yellow Bourbon from Carmo de Minas. It took 3rd in the Brazil CoE with a score of 92.24. As an SO shot this combined a lovely sweetness with intense floral/citrus high notes.
It took an enormous amount of courage (IMHO) for Andrew to create this blend. These are expensive and valuable CoE coffees and are very limited in supply.
Andrew's brewing instructions were very clear... 19grams in an LM double basket; 1.75oz double at 201.5F in 24-28 seconds.
I started by following these instructions and found that it produced a very dense shot with strong chocolate and burnt honey notes and a rich nutty, syrupy body. This was really pretty stunning in short milk drinks - but I felt that I could probably create an espresso that was more to my (personal) taste by tweaking these parameters a bit.
Initially I started by changing dose and brew temp, looking to coax out some of the high notes. With some experimentation, I found that a brew temp of a little over 200F and a dose of 17.5grams produced a shot that I found really lovely as a straight espresso. It had great sweet pink grapefruit high notes and a body of honey roasted pecan, powdered dutch cocoa and a lovely vanilla tone that reminds me of aged Flor de Cana rum. This extraction wasn't ideal with milk - but as a straight shot.... stunning.
I figured that there had to be a way to get the rich, syrup and caramel body of the first extraction with the sweet citrus and Flor de Cana notes. After a fair amount of trial and error - I discovered that going with the Synesso triple basket (with its rounded side walls); slightly down-dosed; and a brew temp of 200.5F yielded a 2.75oz shot that was - to put it bluntly - fucking glorious. Rich, dense, clean, transparent, sweet tangerine, candied nut, burnt honey, bittersweet chocolate, tropical flowers... and that lovely Flor de Cana finish. Lovely as a straight shot - with near perfect balance - and equally awesome as a cappuccino.
Life is good!
12.23.2007
coffee fun
Had way too much fun today.
Drew Catlin and Ben Kaminsky were by. Had some lovely coffee from Ecco Caffe, a bunch of really nice coffees from Ritual... in general had way too many shots of espresso!
I have to say, however, that it was a really good experience. We spent hours and spent almost no time talking about espresso machines. We briefly talked about the Anfim grinder - but perhaps for 1 minute. We talked some smack about the industry and people/companies. But mostly we talked about coffee.
If this is what the new crop of baristas is going to turn out like... I'm happy.
In fact, we even talked a little around the whole issue of dogma and "rules" of espresso and I got the feeling that there is some open-mindedness and flexibility.
All about the coffee... willing to question beliefs and dogma...
Whew... maybe the coffee industry isn't fucked after all.
And for what it's worth... the monster Mia held up really well. I didn't hear any whining about the machine, didn't have to do any juggling - nor did anyone else. Just pulled shots. And if a couple pro baristas (and one has-been pro) can spend a couple hours pulling shots on a home machine and not bitch about it... well then that's one bad-ass home machine.
Drew Catlin and Ben Kaminsky were by. Had some lovely coffee from Ecco Caffe, a bunch of really nice coffees from Ritual... in general had way too many shots of espresso!
I have to say, however, that it was a really good experience. We spent hours and spent almost no time talking about espresso machines. We briefly talked about the Anfim grinder - but perhaps for 1 minute. We talked some smack about the industry and people/companies. But mostly we talked about coffee.
If this is what the new crop of baristas is going to turn out like... I'm happy.
In fact, we even talked a little around the whole issue of dogma and "rules" of espresso and I got the feeling that there is some open-mindedness and flexibility.
All about the coffee... willing to question beliefs and dogma...
Whew... maybe the coffee industry isn't fucked after all.
And for what it's worth... the monster Mia held up really well. I didn't hear any whining about the machine, didn't have to do any juggling - nor did anyone else. Just pulled shots. And if a couple pro baristas (and one has-been pro) can spend a couple hours pulling shots on a home machine and not bitch about it... well then that's one bad-ass home machine.
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