Two coffees and two espresso roasts from San Francisco's Ritual Coffee are put to a public taste test during CoffeeGeek's free October coffee seminar, which also included tutorials on using a press pot.
2_czech Senior Member Joined: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 64 Location: Vancouver/Prague Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Dalla Corte Evolution Grinder: Mahlkoenig KS30 Vario Vac Pot: Cona, Hario, Bodum Drip: Bunn, Fetco Roaster: Joper
Posted Mon Nov 17, 2008, 11:08am Subject: Re: A Ritual Coffee Experience by Karen Hamilton
looks great, any chance you will make the French press article downloadable in PDF like the one with How do you take your coffee? I enjoyed that one very much ...
Posted Mon Nov 17, 2008, 11:49am Subject: Re: A Ritual Coffee Experience by Karen Hamilton
The article mentions, "My first sip was from a ristretto of Ritual's single-origin espresso roast, drawn from the same Matalapa bean that for me was the winner of the day's press pot tasting."
Ritual's web site doesn't mention that the Matalapa comes in an espresso roast. It mentions the coffee is bright which tells me won't work well as a ristretto. In this article, was the Matalapa brewed in the French Press the same roast as was used to pull ristrettos? Or did Ritual make a seperate Matalapa espresso roast? Click Here (ritual.myshopify.com)
Man Seeking Coffee has a link to Intelligentsia using the Matalapa to pull epressos to win the 2008 USBC. So Intelligentsia must have roasted the Matalapa to work best when pulled as an espresso. Click Here (www.intelligentsiacoffee.com)
TinyBites Senior Member Joined: 16 Oct 2008 Posts: 4 Location: Vancouver, BC Expertise: Just starting
Posted Mon Nov 17, 2008, 12:27pm Subject: Re: A Ritual Coffee Experience by Karen Hamilton
GaryH Said:
Ritual's web site doesn't mention that the Matalapa comes in an espresso roast. It mentions the coffee is bright which tells me won't work well as a ristretto. In this article, was the Matalapa brewed in the French Press the same roast as was used to pull ristrettos? Or did Ritual make a seperate Matalapa espresso roast?
It was a single origin roast geared for espresso, thus different from the one brewed via press pot. Below are relevant excerpts from the tasting sheet that was distributed at the seminar.
CoE Matalapa, La Libertad, El Salvador
Washed Bourbon, Pacas: In the city of Jayaque, Vickie Ann Dalton grows these Bourbon and Pacas varieties 1250 meters above sea level with her husband Francisco on their 70 hectare farm. The coffee is processed in an historic beneficio, Beneficio el Paraiso, originally built in the early 1900s by Doña Fidelia, and renovated by Francisco over the last few years. The mill is run in-part by parchment skin and tree prunings, reducing the input of other fuels. Each lot is patio-dried and catalogued by harvest date. This lot was harvested over three days from a part of Matalapa called Tablon Roblar. To ensure the freshest aromatics are kept intact, we specially arranged the freight of this coffee in vacuum package. Clean and bright, with sweet lime notes, candied almond complements, and hints of tropical fruit.
Matalapa El Salvador - Roasted for Espresso
Ritual Espresso Roast: Ritual Coffee has taken their CoE El Salvador and tuned the roast to produce an exceptional single origin espresso candidate. All the taste flavours seen in the press pot cup should be amplified in this espresso brewing.
Karen Hamilton - Writer. Photographer. Marketer. Web Strategist. http://tinybites.ca
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 Mon Nov 17, 2008, 3:23pm Subject: Re: A Ritual Coffee Experience by Karen Hamilton
GaryH Said:
The article mentions, "My first sip was from a ristretto of Ritual's single-origin espresso roast, drawn from the same Matalapa bean that for me was the winner of the day's press pot tasting."
Ritual's web site doesn't mention that the Matalapa comes in an espresso roast. It mentions the coffee is bright which tells me won't work well as a ristretto. In this article, was the Matalapa brewed in the French Press the same roast as was used to pull ristrettos? Or did Ritual make a seperate Matalapa espresso roast? Click Here (ritual.myshopify.com)
Steve Ford and the crew at Ritual did up a special roast of the Matalapa "designed for espresso" which they sent along with the other samples.
Ritual's been doing a lot of SO's as espresso lately - I got a previous sample of another coffee a few weeks before this tasting, but left the sample with Joe at Bump n' Grind - they pulled shots with it and seemed to enjoy that one (a different coffee than the Matalapa).
The espresso-roasted Matalapa was not very good on its own, by my own tastebuds, but came into its own once milk was used with the beverage. I find that's the case with overly bright espressos, be them blends or SOs.
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 Mon Nov 17, 2008, 3:24pm Subject: Re: A Ritual Coffee Experience by Karen Hamilton
2_czech Said:
looks great, any chance you will make the French press article downloadable in PDF like the one with How do you take your coffee? I enjoyed that one very much ...
While that article did need refreshing (I've learned a few things about press technique since publishing it), the basics and principles remain the same - you need a good grinder; fresh coffee's a must; steep times, doses are pretty much the same; etc etc.
DonSt Senior Member Joined: 1 Nov 2007 Posts: 80 Location: Sacramento, CA
Espresso: La Marzocco GS/3 Grinder: Vario Roaster: Temple Coffee
Posted Mon Nov 17, 2008, 7:32pm Subject: Re: A Ritual Coffee Experience by Karen Hamilton
Nice article... I was interested in PNW opinion of the Lifesaver Blend. And, I was glad to read about making presspot coffee; the part about using two spoons to remove a large part of the grinds before plunging. I hadn't seen that in the previous "how to". A brilliant idea. I will be trying that on my next press pot.
Man Seeking Coffee has a link to Intelligentsia using the Matalapa to pull epressos to win the 2008 USBC. So Intelligentsia must have roasted the Matalapa to work best when pulled as an espresso. Click Here (www.intelligentsiacoffee.com)
I definitely pulled my shots with the regular roast - I haven't seen an espresso roast available for sale. I didn't anticipate it being all that good as espresso, but it's always an interesting way to taste a coffee. I really like Mark Prince's quote in this article (and I'm paraphrasing here) that pulling shots of a bean as an espresso is like holding a magnifying glass up to the coffee. I haven't yet had the chance to go back and try this coffee with the fancy-pants Prince-Hoffman method of pressing. I'll report back when I do.
Intelligentsia did roast two versions last year. I sadly hemmed and hawed, got distracted and then missed out on purchasing either of them!
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