mgalli Senior Member Joined: 24 Jul 2007 Posts: 7 Location: California Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Euro 2000 Jr. Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly Drip: French Press
Posted Fri Aug 31, 2007, 8:03pm Subject: Re: From Alberta to Esmeralda by Mark Prince
I enjoyed the article. I have learned so much about coffee/espresso from you. Thanks Mark. I think the idea of coffee flights is great. The largest coffee roaster in my small town prefers to roast the beans dark. I would like some of the beans roasted lighter.
My favorite coffee shop in my town of Chico, Ca. has a similar sign as in Bumpy's. There sign stated: Unattended children will be given an espresso and a puppy. My wife and I always get a good laugh at this sign, as we look down at our 4 year old.
Posted Sun Sep 2, 2007, 8:40pm Subject: Re: From Alberta to Esmeralda by Mark Prince
Mark pulling the Esmeralda wrote "But the espresso process did what it always does - finds what is perhaps the most dominant flavour in the cup, and magnifies it. It also takes other things normally found in the cup of a single origin that are more subtle, and sometimes obliterates them".
This statement is very important to me. The attached collage shows SO shots pulled at home on my Zaffiro and at three coffee houses. At these three coffee houses I like the SO shots better than the blend shots. At home on my Zaffiro I also like SO shots better. I see a trend, but I always wandered why? From this statement looks like that the espresso, by magnifying the dominent flavor and by sometimes obliterating the subtle flavors, makes the SO espresso taste very one-dimentional. So one taste really stands out and makes it easy to identify. That amplified single flavor is what makes me like SO shots better than blend shots where it's all about the multiple flavor complexity. Of course sometimes a SO is simply better tasting than a blend. This SO shot from Barefoot is made using Panama Finca Hartman beans. Greg from coffeeratings.com actually rated Barefoot on the quality of this Panama shot and not on the blend shot at Barefoot because he didn't like it too much. Mark's statement makes me ask another question. Say you have a really good SO that pulls balanced espressos. What is easier to pull, a good SO shot or a good blend shot?
MarkPrince Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 5,462 Location: Vancouver, BC Expertise: Professional
Espresso: KvdW Speedster Grinder: Compak K10 WBC Vac Pot: A bit too many Drip: Clive Coffee Drip Stand Roaster: Hario Glass Retro Roaster
Posted Sun Sep 2, 2007, 11:55pm Subject: Re: From Alberta to Esmeralda by Mark Prince
This is a great comment. And It's making me re-examine SO shots a bit.
I've always wrote that what I like most about espresso are the pleasant surprises and complexities. But that's me.
Then I think about other culinary things, and sometimes, I just like the magnified, single, "super" taste. Prime example: strawberries. Bern, Switzerland ruined strawberries for me because over there, I just got this luscious, super sweet, low acidic "strawberry" flavour out of them. It's really hard to describe to anyone who's had strawberries here - even the best, most organically grown, "red through to the core" strawberries. They just aren't the same. The acidity levels in strawberries here are different (at least all the ones I've tried, from my own grown, to various organic grown "in season for 2 weeks" local, to the ubiquitous genetically modified monster California varieties. Sure, some are sweeter and less acidic than others, and some have their own "complexities" here locally in Vancouver, but what made the Bern berries stand out for me was just picture textbook STRAWBERRY flavour with all sweetness, no acidity or astringency. And I valued and treasured that.
So while I don't think I'll ever be a fan of SO espressos for myself, you post Gary helped me be a bit more understanding about why others like SO shots.
Posted Mon Sep 3, 2007, 4:05am Subject: Re: From Alberta to Esmeralda by Mark Prince
Sometimes the flavor in an SO espresso is better balanced with a 13-14 gram dose rather than 17-18 grams. Something to try next time you're pulling shots of Esmeralda. :-)
BTW, what's the difference between the auction lot and the second lot? I thought they were the same.
coffeeDirtDog Senior Member Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Posts: 331 Location: Cambridge, MA Expertise: Professional
Posted Mon Sep 3, 2007, 8:19pm Subject: Re: From Alberta to Esmeralda by Mark Prince
Mark,
Could you give a few examples of SoE you have sampled/from who... so I could have an idea of where this SoE bias comes from? Considering the banner ad I'm looking at above, it gives me quite a chuckle.
If you want a fantastic SoE of Ezzie, I know a guy in Taiwan and promise it may change your perspective but it will cost.
No unwritten rule. But Andy, you do tend to enjoy the subtle humour, and I thought that is what you were doing here. Apologies if you weren't.
I wrote in the article the differences between the 600lbs of the auction lot, and the "second lot" stuff.
The auction lot coffees were screen and sorted better, kind of the "best of the best" when you see the green, and the roasted. The second lot stuff is from the same land, same plot, etc etc, but not screen or sorted as minutely as the auction coffees.
Jaime - Auction lots came from source (the auction samples), 49th, and a third supplier I cannot name. Second lot coffee from Tom Owen, some sent privately from the CCC stuff, and from Coffee Klatsch.
Posted Tue Sep 4, 2007, 12:25am Subject: Re: From Alberta to Esmeralda by Mark Prince
MarkPrince Said:
No unwritten rule. But Andy, you do tend to enjoy the subtle humour, and I thought that is what you were doing here. Apologies if you weren't.
I wrote in the article the differences between the 600lbs of the auction lot, and the "second lot" stuff.
The auction lot coffees were screen and sorted better, kind of the "best of the best" when you see the green, and the roasted. The second lot stuff is from the same land, same plot, etc etc, but not screen or sorted as minutely as the auction coffees.
I wasn't trying to be funny, it was actually a serious question. Thanks for the explanation, that makes sense. If you have that same info in the article, I still haven't found out where (after rereading)!
and the most recent podcast, I forgot where I went into a description about the differences (to my eye, and my tastebuds at least) between the Auction Esmeralda and the Second Lot stuff.
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