Opinions

Want a definition of a risk taker? How about someone who pours $135 worth of coffee (and all contained within a 1/2 pound) into a grinder to make a few shots of espresso? And hoping to God things were dialed in properly?

So I ended up with 1.5 lbs of the Esmeralda Especiale (the real auction stuff, none of this second-lot nonsense (not that there’s anything wrong with the second lot stuff)), which was my fourth time around with this bean this year. After giving 1/2 a lb to Billy Wilson (who I never heard back from on it), I took my other 1/2 lb, plus another 1/2lb graciously given to me by a very generous anonymous source, and started having some fun.

One of the two remaining bags? Well, I cupped it, I pressed it, I aeropressed it, and I made drip coffee with it. Then I went around to some of my neighbours armed with two press clippings (one from the Globe, one from the Sun), and I made them small press pots of the coffee for them enjoy. Let me tell you, there’s not many better ways to endear yourself to your neighbours than pouring them a cup of $15 coffee!

That took care of one of the half pound bags. $135…. never better spent (not that I paid for it in the first place!). The last bag? Well, that was for my own personal enjoyment. I pressed a bit more, and used a Bodum 1 cup dripper to make an 8oz cup. Then, with about 190g left (I was very frugal), I dumped the remainder into an Anfim “Best” prosumer grinder, ready to do some single origin ‘spro.

The dial in process was never more crucial. We’re talking about $15 per double (16-18g of coffee) shot here. Barista skills, don’t fail me now.

I cheated a bit. I have this rather awesome Biloya from Paradise Roasters – about four weeks old now, and definitely past its prime, but the roast level is semi close to the roast that 49th Parallel executed for the Esmeralda. Not identical, and the bean types are also a bit different, but close enough that I was able to “dial in” the grinder somewhat before completely cleaning it out, and adding the Especiale. Because of this cheat, my first shot, a bit updosed, ran a bit fast, and once I dialed in a grind adjustment (two steps – a step on the Anfim Best equals about 2 seconds in shot time difference, with the same dose), and lowered the dose down to about 17g, my second shot was near spot on. Good enough to take a swig and taste an explosion of mandarin orange.

Two more adjustments followed. I brought the PID on the Linea up to 202.5 (offset of about 1.5F) from 200.9 to mute a tinge of sourness I got on the shot, and I upped the dose by maybe a gram in the basket. Third shot pull? Dialed up another 1F, and the resulting shot looked very thrilling, with about 50mls coming out in around 27 seconds, split into two espresso cups. Some tiger flecking and mottling. Taste? Let’s get to that after the photos.

Well taste confirmed why I don’t like single origin espresso very much. I’m sure others will swoon and die for this shot, but for me, it was a big time one hit wonder. Well two hits. First flavour that started, continued, and finished the shot was a power-ranger punch of tangerine / mandarin orange… so pronounced that, I grabbed a tangerine I just happened to have in the fruit bowl, peeled it, and took a bite to compare, and wallah, very similar tastes. Of course, the real tangerine was, well, a real tangerine. Not to imply I was drinking a cup of tangerine juice here…. ah, you get the point, right?

Second flavour hit was a very evident sweetness. In terms of coffee, super sweetness. So pronounced that, when I made a shot for Beata, she said “wow, this is so sweet – did you add sugar?”. (nb: Beata normally doesn’t like straight espresso shots. She enjoyed this one).

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. When I cupped / pressed / vac potted this coffee, I got a grapey / blue fruit start to the coffee, the “tangerine / morphs into mandarin orange as it cools” middle, and a very soft, supple and creamy Hawaiian macadamia flower honey finish.

When pulled as espresso, the grape was gone, though I was getting ever subtle hints of blueberry / blackberry. Very subtle and gone very quick. The predominant flavour was the huge, magnified hit of tangerine orange. The cream honey finish? Gone – never there in the cup. And on top of it all, there wasn’t much body or big texture to the cup.

This is why I don’t like single origins as espresso, at least for pure enjoyment and love of the complex beverage. It tends to single-note (or in this case, dual note) the coffee, obliterating the more delicate flavours that other methods produce. As I type this, maybe 30 minutes after having my last shots of the Auction Lot Esmeralda Especiale, I still have a distinct aftertaste of tangerine orange on the back of my palate. It’s not tasting so good any longer. Time to go rinse.

In some ways, I feel like I cheated this coffee. I feel like I didn’t give this coffee its chance to sing. Sure, the huge tangerine was nice at first, but this coffee is a thoroughbred that expects to be treated right. And I don’t think pulling it as espresso treats it right or gives it the respect it deserves. Now I kinda wish I’d saved that last 180g or so for presses and vac pots. Oh well, it was (again) a learning experience.

Key lesson out of all of this for me? That I must respect the coffee, and respect even more the arcane art and science of the master roaster / blender who is able to make espresso sing and dance as much as a cupping or press pot can make a S/O sing and dance.