What is a single-origin espresso? Very generally defined, it’s an espresso produced from a single crop of coffee grown and processed in a single country, region, cooperative or farm. In other words, it is not a blend of coffees grown in different places or at different times.

Single-origin (S.O.) espressos allow an espresso drinker to explore the wider world of coffee in the same mindful, informed way as coffee drinkers who taste their coffees brewed as drip or French press. With single-origin espressos, the curious espresso drinker can explore the sensory impacts of variables like tree variety, processing method, growing elevation and, to some degree, roasting strategy — explorations that are difficult to impossible to pursue with blends. Plus, single-origins have the capacity to surprise us, and make the simple act of tasting an espresso shot or cappuccino a memorable mini-revelation that tasting a routine blend, even a very good routine blend, can’t offer us.

Such coffee explorations would seem to be particularly supported by this month’s tasting, as all of the 13 top-rated coffees we report on are identified quite specifically: by specific farm or co-op, by variety of tree that produced them, and often by growing elevation. And we were able to tell something about the roasting by taking Agtron color readings of the beans.

Tasting Colleagues

I was joined in this blind tasting of single-origin espressos by John DiRuocco, vice president of coffee at Mr. Espresso, a long-established (founded in 1978) coffee roaster in Oakland, California. The Mr. Espresso motto, quite justified by its practice, is “Italian inspiration, contemporary taste.”

Kenneth Davids and John DiRuocco tasting espresso coffees at Mr. Espresso roastery in Oakland. Courtesy Jason Sarley.

We conducted the tasting over several days at the lab in the Mr. Espresso roastery, with Brandon Talley, assistant director of coffee quality at Mr. Espresso, pulling the shots on a Faema E71E, and Coffee Review’s Jason Sarley in a supervising support role. As usual, we generated the shots using 18 grams of ground coffee to produce 36 grams of finished espresso, a relatively standard ratio in North American practice. For the “with milk” assessment, the shot was combined with three parts whole milk, heated but not frothed on the steam wand. As always at Coffee Review, the tasting was conducted blind, with Jason delivering the coffees identified only by numbers to John and me.

Importance of Processing Method

When the tasting was finished and the results were tabulated, it turned out that one variable in particular moved to the front of the sensory line: processing method. (Processing method, readers will recall, describes the sequence of procedures that turn the moist seeds of fresh coffee fruit into dry, stable, roaster-ready green coffee beans.) The dramatic impact of processing methods involving anaerobic (limited oxygen) fermentation and its growing number of variations and applications tended to upstage the impact of other variables that create differences among green coffees, like tree variety, growing elevation and various more conventional processing methods.

Old Soul Coffee’s Natural Process “Unicorn Lot” drying at Anny Ruth Pimentel’s Finca Loma La Gloria in El Salvador. Courtesy of Jason Griest.

Thirteen of the coffees we tested achieved ratings of 94 or 95, all of which we review here. Among those top-rated 13 samples, nine, or almost 70 percent, were processed using methods that prominently incorporated anaerobic fermentation. Among the remaining four top-rated samples, two were processed by the conventional wet or washed method (all soft fruit residue was removed from the beans before they were dried), one by the honey or pulped natural method (skins were removed, but the fruit flesh or mucilage remained on the beans during drying), and one by the natural method (the beans were dried inside the entire fruit).

A stage in the multi-staged fermentation procedure for Royal Flamingo Coffee’s Colombia Red Fruits at Edwin Noreña’s Campo Hermosa in Colombia. Courtesy of Royal Flamingo Coffee.

The impact of the anaerobic ferment could be felt in the often striking sweetness and surprising aromatic complexity among all of the nine anaerobic-process samples. However, the only sample that displayed explicit anaerobic character in its candyish sweetness and perfume-like flowers was the Royal Flamingo Colombia Red Fruits Campo Hermosa Edwin Noreña (94). John very much admired this coffee at 95 and felt it was coherent and complete in its originality, with its intense aromatics supported by a sound structure. For me, however, there was a bit too much strawberry gummy and not quite enough coffee, though I managed a 92. But I suspect many readers will go with John’s take on this one. Give this striking coffee a try.

John and I switched sides with the quietly melodic, elegant Speckled Ax Ethiopia Dame Dabaye (John 92, Ken 95, net 94), which I found pure, poised and flawless. John found it a pleasing but straightforward washed Ethiopia espresso. But, again, try it; you may not be blown away, but I strongly doubt you will throw any of it away either.

Tree Variety

The celebrated Geisha/Gesha variety of Arabica, with its elongated beans, fine structure, and intensely floral, cocoa and stone-fruit character, has been one of the main vehicles that ambitious coffee growers have relied on over the past couple of decades in their often successful attempts to differentiate their green coffees and attract recognition and higher prices for them. Authentic Geishas, particularly those grown from seed of the original Panama strain (Geisha T2722), continue to impress with their grand but balanced structure and intense floral, fruit and cocoa aromatics.

Young coffee trees at Edwin Noreña’s Campo Hermosa in Colombia.

But Geishas may no longer seem as new and different as they once did. So applying anaerobic processing to a coffee from a respectable but otherwise unremarkable tree variety is an alternative way to surprise the buyer with aromatic fireworks and seductive sweetness. And at lower prices than might be expected for coffee from Geisha trees, with their often stingy yields and fussy needs. Of course, producers can double down and apply anaerobic processing to their Geishas, as is the case with the Big Shoulders Coffee’s anaerobic natural Marcela Gesha Espressso (95), Euphora Coffee’s anaerobic washed Colombia Buenavista Ataraxia Geisha (94), and AOI Coffee’s Ethiopia Growers Reserve Gesha Village Gaylee Special Fermentation (94), all of which pursue a distinctive cup by means of both distinctive tree variety and anaerobic processing.

Origin and Single-Origin Espressos

Seven of this month’s 13 highest-rated samples were produced in Colombia, all in southern or south-central Colombia. Of the remaining six, three were produced in Ethiopia, one in Rwanda, one in El Salvador, and one in Hawaii.

Why the preponderance of Colombias, obviously a popular origin, but until recently not the go-to origin for coffees intended for espresso? (Traditionally, that would be Brazil.) Mainly because a cluster of farms in southern Colombia appear to have mastered the use of complex methods of anaerobic fermentation, which, performed skillfully, can transform a high-grown, potentially acidy coffee into a lower-toned, richly complex, espresso-friendly coffee.

MK Coffee’s Rwanda Rulindo Red Bourbon drying in the “honey (fruit flesh) at Juru Coffee in Rwanda. Courtesy of Linking Coffee and Juru Coffee.

True, some of the other successful coffees in this month’s tasting used simpler, more direct applications of anaerobic methods than the Colombia farms. But, all in all, only two out of this month’s top-rated 13 samples were processed using legacy methods traditionally associated with the origins that produced them: The Wonderstate Colombia Sierra Morena Pink Bourbon (95) is a traditional washed-process Colombia, and the Speckled Ax Ethiopia Dame Dabaye (94) a traditional washed Ethiopia. Local tree variety may contribute to the success of MK Coffee’s Juru Rwanda Rulindo Red Bourbon Honey (94), though the honey processing method is atypical for a Rwanda.

Stay tuned, but it appears that the expectation that we can make consistent associations between coffee origin and coffee cup character continues to erode as ambitious farmers all over the world tinker with tree variety (e.g., Geisha) and processing method.

Roast Color and Espresso

Traditionally, Italian practice is to roast for espresso to around what Americans might call a darkish medium roast. However, when a taste for espresso drinks and European-style cafés first developed in the U.S. in the 1980s, roasters went really dark for espresso brewing. They aggressively dark-roasted high-grown Central America or Colombia coffees, producing intense, bitter coffees that required the softening, buffering impact of hot frothed milk to render them drinkable. Later, many American specialty roasters migrated toward something more like the original Italian tradition: moderately dark- to medium-dark.

Today, of course, on the leading edge of the U.S. specialty coffee scene, taste in roast style has completely flipped, regardless of brewing method. Rather than everything dark, as was the case 20 years ago, today virtually everything is light. Sometimes very light, regardless of intended brewing method.

Of the seven U.S. coffees reviewed this month, six are light-roasted. Only one, the Speckled Ax Ethiopia, was roasted modestly darker, to a little past second crack, classifying it as a moderately dark roast. The six coffees from Taiwan roasters were a bit darker roasted than the U.S. samples, tending toward medium or medium-dark, though none could be called outright dark roasted.

Omni Roasts and Acidity

Most of this month’s coffees probably qualify as what some in the coffee world call omni roasts—roasts that the roaster feels will do well when subjected to almost any brewing method.

This practice—one roast for all brewing methods—has a practical advantage for coffee sellers, of course. Fewer products, a more compact inventory, and perhaps simpler communication. The increased technical sophistication available today in managing roast, facilitated by computer control and monitoring, may help roasters apply roasting practices that tend to round sharpness and soften and integrate acidity in lighter roasts, making them more espresso-friendly.

The potentially bright, aggressive acidity characteristic of high-grown, light-roasted coffees has always presented a problem for espresso brewing. Some years ago, when the practice of pulling espresso from such bright, lighter-roasted coffees took off, I recall tasting some rather imbalanced espressos. Although we still run into an occasional rather sharply acidy single-origin espresso at Coffee Review, our tasting for this month suggests that roasters are becoming increasingly skillful at sourcing and light-roasting single-origins for all-purpose brewing, and, by implication, for espresso.

Acid-Reducing Anaerobics

The fact that there were so many anaerobic-fermented coffees among the espressos we tasted this month may have helped the acidity-reducing cause. Anaerobic processing tends to reduce or soften acidity, often replacing it with a backgrounded lactic tang, while encouraging a sweetness that helps balance any bitter edge to the acidity.

Single-Origin Espressos in the Café

When we decided on this month’s topic, we were a little afraid that single-origin espressos had had their day and were on their way out of fashion.

Perhaps. However, we received a reassuringly large number of submissions for this topic.

Roasters who sent us top-rated coffees and with whom we subsequently corresponded were largely divided about the value of single-origin espressos in their cafés. Generally, Taiwan roasters were more positive than were North American roasters, and for good reason, given brewing espresso at home appears more popular in Taiwan than in the U.S. Mark Shi of Taiwan’s MK Coffee reports: “Since Taiwanese cafes banned on-site drinking during the Covid-19 pandemic and most customers were working from home, I found that many people who drank coffee every day bought automatic espresso machines at that time, so for the beans suitable for espresso (including blended beans and single-origin beans), the demand is trending higher and higher.”

Arthur Chen of Taiwan’s Balmy Day Coffee Office (Ethiopia Anaerobic Washed G1 Wild Rose S.O. Sidamo, 94), offers an extended recommendation for how roasting for espresso should be conducted (slowly), concluding that single-origin espressos “… should be like a taste bomb, allowing the flavor of the coffee to be concentrated and focused, so that the single-origin coffee flavor can bloom in the mouth like fireworks.”

American Single-Origin Skeptics

A generally more skeptical attitude among American roasters regarding single-origin espressos is voiced by Old Soul Coffee’s Jason Griest (El Salvador Finca Loma La Gloria Natural Process “Unicorn Lot”, 94). Jason writes, “Single origin espressos can be fun, but we find a ‘good’ one elusive to find and so, rarely have one on the bar at our shops.” Jason echoes the position of many North American roasters, who feel that an espresso coffee needs to be versatile above all: “Our main espresso blend called The Remedy is made up of three components, designed to complement each other in terms of body, acidity and sweet/bitter notes that can be enjoyed both as a straight shot and with milk.” Lee Paterson of Hawaii’s Hula Daddy (Kona Espresso Special Selection, 94) points out that “Since most of our sales are to North America, where drip coffee is king, espressos are a small part of our business.”

Anny Ruth Pimentel’s Finca Loma La Gloria in El Salvador. Courtesy of Jason Griest.

Tim Coonan of Big Shoulders Coffee (Marcela Gesha Espresso, 95) takes a more encouraging middle-ground position: “Our S.O. espresso program serves three purposes. These are coffees that are challenging for roasters and baristas alike. So it’s educational for us. We find these are appreciated by those regular customers who are looking for an opportunity to both learn more about coffee and also [are] willing to explore some boundaries in the process. These are customers who also enjoy their espresso solo, not with milk.”

American Single-Origin Enthusiasts

Taking a wholehearted pro-single-origin position are Bryan and Beth Brzozowski of Royal Flamingo Coffee (Colombia Red Fruits Campo Hermosa Edwin Noreña, 94), who are planning to extend their successful e-commerce and wholesale business to a brick-and-mortar café this year. They write, “Single-origin espresso is something we’ve become known for in our coffee community and has played a major role in our e-commerce and wholesale growth. When we open our café next month, we’ll be leaning hard on single-origin espresso. … For example, we’re planning to have a few options on the menu where customers can order a drip and a shot of single-origin espresso comes alongside (a pair we are calling the Barista’s Boilermaker).”

Wilson Alva of Finca Sierra Morena, producer of Wonderstate Coffee’s Colombia Sierra Morena Pink Bourbon. Courtesy of The Coffee Quest.

Summing up the pro-single-origin side is Caleb Nicholes of Wonderstate Coffee: “We believe that single-origin espressos have a distinct and important role in specialty coffee. In all of our café locations, we offer both a single-origin espresso, which is roasted lighter, as well as a deeper roasted blend. Having a lighter-roasted espresso option gives us the opportunity to introduce our customers to a very light-roasted espresso experience that is very much reflective of a coffee’s variety, micro-climate and processing style. While brighter, more fruit-driven and aromatic espressos can be jarring for some coffee consumers, it is an excellent way to expand perceptions around what espresso can be. We love to surprise our customers with something they have never tasted before, and single-origin espresso is one of the best ways we have found to do that.”

Single-Origin Espressos at Home

Of course, café owners need to please nearly everyone who comes in the door. Consumers only need to please themselves—or at most their families and guests. So perhaps the single-origin espresso game, with its potential for coffee exploration and sensory revelation (along with its risk for temporary disappointment) is best played by consumers at home. If so, we feel that the coffees we review this month offer an excellent and diverse starting point.

John DiRuocco Reflects on the Tasting

John writes: “Roasters from all over the world submitted their finest offerings from familiar to exotic. It was an exciting challenge to describe and evaluate these coffees. The vast assortment of processes and varieties translated to a thrill ride of aroma, acidity, and fruit. As a roaster based in Italian coffee tradition, our approach to espresso at Mr. Espresso is based on the idea of balance and roundness, something that can be enjoyed several times a day, every day. What set the best of the coffees we tasted apart for me were not only flavor profiles that contained explosive fruits, intricate floral flavors, and intense acidity, but those that were balanced by a pronounced sweetness and round body to create a memorable espresso experience.”

Thanks to the roasters who greatly enriched this report by sharing their ideas and experience regarding single-origin espresso coffees: Matt Bolinder, Speckled Ax Coffee; Bryan and Beth Brzozowski, Royal Flamingo Coffee; Chris Chao, AOI Coffee Roaster; Arthur Chen, Balmy Day Coffee Office; Tim Coonan, Big Shoulders Coffee; Jason Griest, Old Soul Coffee Co.; Albert Hsu, OLI Cafe; Miguel Meza, Paradise Coffee; Caleb Nicholes, Wonderstate Coffee; Lee Paterson, Hula Daddy Kona Coffee; Mark Shi, MK Coffee Roasters; May Wang, Euphora Coffee; Zhou Tzuchiang, Bargain Cafe.

The post Single-Origin Espressos: Anaerobics Crash the Party appeared first on Coffee Review.

Coffee cherries drying in the whole fruit. Courtesy of Felala Coffee.

The Coffee Review lab has smelled like a candy store for the last few weeks — a Willy Wonka factory for grownups. Of the hundreds of coffees we cup every year, a growing percentage of them are natural-processed. In the wine world, the word “natural” doesn’t mean anything in particular, is more of a marketing term designed to imply minimal intervention in the winemaking process. In coffee, “natural” processing means something very specific: that the beans or seeds are dried inside the entire coffee fruit. This approach differs from the “washed” (or wet) method, in which the beans are stripped of their fruit before they are dried. Both approaches have profound impact on the sensory character of the green coffee.  As in winemaking, natural processing of coffee is a minimal-intervention process in its most basic form.

But now, “basic” natural processing — which typically involves drying whole coffee cherries on concrete patios or screen tables in the sun, raking and turning them often to avoid mold and encourage even drying — is being pushed further by farmers and mill operators looking to distinguish and intensify their coffees. Their main strategy is adding a fermentation step before the coffee fruit is laid out to dry. The fermentation is being further elaborated by adding wine yeasts, conducting the fermentation in sealed tanks (the anaerobic method), freezing coffee fruit before drying it, and other novel processing experiments. Whatever you think of this trend toward experimentation, it’s clear that it’s not a passing fancy. The intense aromas now filling the Coffee Review lab may be the result of various processing wrinkles, but they share at least one common denominator — the coffee cherries all have been dried in the whole fruit.

Two shots of espresso being drawn from a professional espresso machine.

This month, we asked roasters to send us natural-processed single-origin coffees they’ve roasted for espresso format. We received a wide range of samples, from the classic to the wildly creative. Of the 10 coffees we review here, five are straight naturals, dried in the whole fruit without any additional steps in the process, while five are more experimental, with added steps such as anaerobic fermentation or fermentation with yeast added.

Focusing on single-origin coffees (as opposed to blends) makes this an interesting inquiry because it effectively eliminates the impact of blending. Classic espresso blends often combine low-toned, chocolaty coffees with high-toned, fruity coffees, for example, and there is generally a broad spectrum of creativity in the blend component choices and their ratios. Here, the roasters had to work with what the green coffee offered, in effect getting out of the way except, of course, for the crucial acts of selecting the coffees and developing their roast profiles. One thing is clear: Roasters who are working with naturals are not afraid of big fruit, which characterizes all of this month’s coffees.

Omni-Coffees Are Also In

And it’s probably not a coincidence that nine of the 10 coffees reviewed here are light- or medium-roasted. Just one, Simon Hsieh’s “Chasing Horizon” (95) is roasted to medium-dark, but darker roasts are Hsieh’s specialty and the focus of his company’s brand, so that’s not surprising. The other roasters are working clearly within the third-wave model of lighter roasting. In any case, big fruit and light roasting tend to provide different challenges for espresso, both in the straight shot and in milk drinks, and some interesting spins emerged in our discussions with roasters. Except for Hsieh’s Chasing Horizon and Hula Daddy’s Kona Natural Espresso, none of the coffees reviewed this month is presented on roasters’ websites as exclusively for espresso; rather, they are offered for unspecified brewing applications. So, whether you’re shopping for coffees for pourovers or home espressos, the roast profile you buy is the same, essentially making them “omni” coffees aimed at working well in either format.

A Note About Acidity

While Coffee Review’s evaluation format for coffees cupped for brewed or non-espresso applications includes explicit consideration of acidity, our espresso review form does not prompt us to take acidity into account. You’ll find acidity indirectly referenced in our global descriptions that describe structure, such as “sweetly tart,” “richly savory,” “gently herbaceous.” But the truth is that this month’s mostly lighter-roasted naturals express a clear acidity that’s unmuted by deeper roast levels, and it is here that one’s preferences may come into play. You know who you are: If you dig a bright acidity with juicy fruit front and center, you’ll find a lot to love here;  if you go to espresso primarily for round, chocolaty shots, you may be disappointed. In other words, these are largely what we call caveat coffees, love or hate affairs, in this case because of their tendency toward the intensely bright fruit end of the flavor spectrum. Regardless of your sensory camp or your attachment to it, however, these 10 coffees represent extraordinary expressions of single-origin natural-processed coffees, ranging in score from 93 to 95.

Five Classic Naturals

We review five coffees that are processed by the basic natural method, again, simply dried in the whole fruit with daily care and attention during the process to ensure that the cherries dry evenly and cleanly.

Barth Anderson, of Barrington Coffee Roasting, whose “Supernatural” scored 95, says, “I typically gravitate to gently applied natural-process coffees favoring delicate and elusive characteristics — not so the case with the Supernatural from Durato Bombe. With this coffee, I am drawn to its straight-ahead application of the natural process. On our first pass on the cupping table at a very light roast, it reminded me of the surprise I experienced when I tasted my very first natural. It was a blueberry powerhouse. What sets it apart is the focus and refinement in its delivery. I hold its producers Asefa and Mulugeta Dukamo entirely responsible for such finesse.

It’s heft, depth and abundant chocolate make it a shoo-in for pushing the roast treatment into medium and showcasing it as a single-origin espresso. As expected, our shot trials proved to enhance what we liked most about it on the cupping table.” We also found this coffee to be as complex as it is intense, with watermelon candy notes at the top and savory leaning herb notes underneath. The chocolate is a throughline but not the coffee’s most prominent feature, rather it is an integrated part of the whole.

Roaster Jason Yang of Felala Coffee says he was drawn to “the intensity and complexity of the flavors” of his Ethiopia Alemaza Natural (95), “accompanied by the acidity and sweetness inherent in the coffee, which creates a harmonious experience.” He describes the challenge of roasting this high-density green coffee, including his decision “not to touch second crack in order to keep more of the fruitiness and to keep the balance of sweetness with the chocolate notes.” We picked up on the dark chocolate note, but found tart pomegranate, bittersweet blood orange zest, and rich sandalwood to be even more prominent.

Kakalove Café’s Honduras Natural San Vicente Belarmino Contreras Pacas (94), whose berry-driven, richly floral process we loved, attracted roaster Caesar Tu “because of the coffee’s well-known provenance, as San Vicente is a famous washing station that has won the Cup of Excellence many times.” He adds that he appreciates the San Vicente mill’s focus on small farmers and variety of processes. The San Vincente is especially elegant, displaying pungent florals in both the straight shot and in milk alongside a mulberry-like purple fruit note.

Simon Hsieh’s “Chasing Horizon” (95) is a blend of three Ethiopian naturals from the Guji and Yirgacheffe regions. Hsieh says that while these three coffees each have a different character, they all share “a clean cup without over-fermented taints.” He adds that, “One plays well in aroma and brightness, one plays a great winey/chocolaty role, while the last provides very attractive body and aftertaste. When they stand alone, they might lack certain strengths, but together they work with full power.” We found this single-origin blend to be as floral as it is chocolaty, with sweet-spicy hyacinth-like florals as its anchor.

Rounding out the classic naturals is Modern Times’ Ethiopia Guracho Natural (93), which is delicately berry-toned and richly sweet, with notes of blackberry coulis, cocoa nib, agave syrup, cedar and creamy macadamia nut. It’s especially pretty in cappuccino format, where berry and cocoa notes balance rich aromatic cedar.

Roastery manager Seancarlo Ohlin says of this coffee, “We have always been huge fans of natural Ethiopian coffees and have made it a focal point of our coffee program. We sourced this coffee from Atlas Coffee Importers and have been working with them for a number of years. This coffee was sourced as a blending component but immediately turned heads on the cupping table. We decided it was great as a single origin, and it tasted fantastic on bar. Our espresso roasts generally have an extended roast development, but we decided to run our normal development for this single-origin coffee, and we’re happy we did! It’s bursting with juicy fruit characteristics that delightfully linger on the palate. Shout out to our head roaster Courtney Heald for mastering this roast!”

Five Naturals on Steroids — The Experimental Spectrum

Now to the experimentally processed naturals, also dried in the whole fruit but with an extra twist. These innovations tend to be proprietary to producers (secret recipes, if you will), but each roaster shared a bit about the method and the reasons they were drawn to these coffees as espressos. Experimental processes of any kind are usually intended to intensify or highlight a particular aspect of the green coffee. In the case of naturals, it’s usually all about the fruit, and usually involves adding a fermentation step before the coffee fruit is dried.

Two of these coffees made the fermentation step anaerobic, meaning the fermentation was conducted in sealed tanks to eliminate oxygen and yeast fermentation while promoting bacterial or lactic acid fermentation. The anaerobic step seemed to promote depth and complexity in terms of savory florals and other umami impulses, nuancing the fruit and sweetness.

Fortifying fermentation with various yeasts is another new(ish) processing frontier and, again, producers and their roaster partners often prefer to hold their cards close as far as specific details go. But we know that common experiments include the addition of wine yeasts to the coffee fermentation. There is always yeast present during fermentation, but the idea is that controlling the specific strains can produce more favorable aroma and flavor outcomes.

We tend to avoid the term “exotic” because it’s often used in the context of cultural appropriation (i.e., categorically “other” in relation to our own experience, but perhaps typical in someone else’s). But it wouldn’t be inappropriate to use it to describe some of these experimental coffees as, frankly, universally non-coffee-like. For many producers working in the experimental realm, this is the goal: to broaden a coffee’s sensory range into the areas of tea, wine, even non-beverages like cheese or yogurt.

For many years, we’ve followed Hula Daddy Kona Coffee’s yeast fermentation experiments with coffee grown at its own Kona farm. It’s only just recently that roaster Laura Ross decided to start working with roast profiles aimed at espresso applications. This month’s Kona Natural Espresso (95) is richly chocolaty, sweetly nutty and subtly fruity. Wine yeasts added to a fermentation step seem to have intensified both aroma and flavor.

Rigoberto Herrera scooping dried coffee cherries at Colombia’s Granja La Esperanza Farm. Courtesy of PT’s Coffee Roasting Co.

PT’s Colombia Tres Dragones Natural (94) was processed by what producers Rigoberto and Rodrigo Herrera of Finca Potosi, known for their expertise in fermentation, call a “hybrid natural” method, meaning that the coffee was both fermented and dried in the whole fruit. Roaster Mike Mazulo says, “The Tres Dragones Natural, year after year, has continued to show the care and dedication taken at Granja La Esperanza with this lot, as they do with all their coffee, always working to refine their processes. It has been a hit every year, both as espresso and brewed. I love a natural espresso that is dynamic as a single shot, in milk, or over a scoop of ice cream — it’s vibrant, sweet, deep, rich, and complex, with ripe to macerated fruit-forward flavor and the body to complement. The attention to detail in natural processing can really highlight the effort of the farmers.” We experienced this coffee as winey and musky, richly chocolaty — satiating in its herbaceous, savory depth and fruity lift. It’s a good example of the delicate sweet ferment that can be achieved in coffee, slightly and intentionally evocative of alcohol.

We also review two anerobic natural-processed coffees, in which the whole cherries are fermented in an oxygen-free, hermetically sealed vessel before drying, giving them an intensity and depth that works well in espresso format. Paradise’s Colombia Quindio Anaerobic Natural (94) displays notes of tropical fruit (rambutan) and bittersweet citrus (kumquat) ensconced in deep chocolate notes. This is a coffee that we also recently reviewed as a brewed coffee at 94. When cupped rather than brewed as espresso, it displayed different dominant aroma and flavor notes (link to review). Roaster Miguel Meza says, “In a natural coffee for espresso, we look for fruit and intense distinctive flavors. This coffee seems to have cinnamon added to the fermentation, and we liked how that came through in a shot of espresso, along with the sweetness and roundness of the mouthfeel from the anaerobic natural processing. We actually did not roast this coffee with espresso in mind; it is a lighter roast intended for filter use that just happened to make an interesting espresso, as well.” While we didn’t detect the cinnamon note, we did hone in on sandalwood, a similarly spice-toned descriptor.

Coffee drying on raised beds at Faysel Abodsh’s Testi Washing Station in Sidama, Ethiopia. Courtesy of modcup coffee.

Travas Clifton, founder of modcup coffee, comments: “Whenever we are using natural coffees for espresso, we are looking to highlight a component central to our branding: [the fact that] Coffee is a Fruit. Before we talk about anything in coffee, we must understand that the bean is actually a seed, a seed of an incredible flavor-complex fruit.” In the case of modcup’s Fruit Bomb/Ethiopia Shantewene (93) the fruit is present and intense, with an engaging lean toward the savory and tart almost certainly promoted by an anaerobic ferment step.

Perhaps the most unusual processing method of all is represented here by GK Coffee’s Colombia Finca Jardines del Eden Ice Fermentation Natural (94), whose processing involved freezing the coffee cherries right after harvest for five days, slowing the drying and increasing the sweetness of the fruit. Roaster Gary Liao says that the innovative processing method resulted in a super-sweet coffee that inspired him to create an ice caffè latte with pudding for his café. He loves the profile for its winey presentation and dessert-like qualities.

A barista completes an attractive pour of frothed milk to a cappuccino.

Milk Is a Strange Bedfellow

These 10 natural-processed single-origin coffees, tested as espressos, are all clear representations of their respective green coffees and their processing methods, and each offers a strikingly divergent presentation in cappuccino format. With classic espresso blends, chocolate notes tend to dominate in milk formats, but these naturals expand our sense of how coffee can play with milk, from the decadently floral and almost over-the-top fruity to the more traditional chocolaty and nutty, with a middle ground of savory, herbaceous umami. Read through the reviews to get a sense of how these coffees build on the notion of how a cappuccino can taste when it’s a bit out of the box. Again, one’s preferences will reign supreme, as they should, but these coffees give us a chance to push our sensory boundaries in new and exciting ways.

We hope you enjoy this foray into the unapologetically fruity realm of natural espressos, or at least give some of these a (pun intended) shot.

The post Fruit Bombs Are the Point: Natural-Processed Espressos Defy Convention appeared first on Coffee Review.

Because of the number of coffees we received, we had to break the report into two parts: U.S. roasters in June and roasters from Taiwan in this month’s report. In the June report on classic espresso blends from U.S. roasters, two themes emerged as definitions of classic: Some roasters viewed the call as an opportunity to submit traditional Italian-style espresso blends that are accessible, chocolate-leaning and relatively uncomplicated, while others offered more “third wave” blend expressions tending toward brightness and complex intensity.

Last month, as now, we tested all coffees blind without regard for our own pre-conceptions of classic, evaluating each espresso by way of Coffee Review’s tasting system based on five sensory categories — aroma, mouthfeel, flavor, aftertaste, and performance in milk — and only later sorted out why a roaster submitted a given sample as an example of a “classic” espresso blend.

Our co-taster for the coffees from Taiwan roasters was Israel (Izzy) Fraire, director of operations at Bay Area CoRoasters (CoRo), a groundbreaking space for new specialty roasters that offers a collaborative roasting facility with affordable access to high-end equipment, as well as education and community-building. Together, Izzy and I tested the 15 espressos that had made it through our initial screening of the 46 that we received from roasters in Taiwan. Our barista was Coffee Review’s Jason Sarley, who pulled shots roughly within these parameters: 19 grams in, 38 grams out, over 27-28 seconds.

The Five Top-Scoring Espresso Blends

Of the 15 finalists we tested, the five we review here scored between 92 and 93; the remaining 10 scored between 85 and 89. Because each of these espresso blends approaches the notion of “classic” in an entirely different way, it’s really not possible to group them around coherent themes, so we’ll approach each as a unique expression. After all, that’s what blending is about — putting your own stamp as a roaster on a composition of carefully selected coffees.

The Closest We Got to Traditional Italian-Style “Classic”

Kakalove Café’s Caesar Tu is a coffee-industry veteran, having founded his own highly regarded roastery in 2013. While Tu works across a variety of eclectic coffee styles, he interpreted the call for classic espressos as referring to traditional Italian-style blends, so he submitted a moderately darker-roasted blend of washed coffees from Colombia, Guatemala and Ethiopia, which scored 93. Tu says that, for him, “Classic espresso means a coffee that doesn’t have a leading role; it’s just a base for cappuccino and latte. It should have an old soul, link relationships, and be comfortable to drink with friends or family, casually, without thinking too much about it.” His Black Meow Blend — bittersweet, chocolaty, and delicately roast-toned — is, playfully, named after his cat who hangs around the roastery. For Tu, this coffee is a good choice for people who want something inexpensive and perhaps an espresso to enjoy with sugar or brandy.

Ethiopia Blue Donkey coffee, a component in Kakalove Cafe’s Black Meow Blend. Photo courtesy of Caesar Tu.

A Classic By Any Other Name Would Be … New Wave

The remaining four coffees we review here are unique blends — not “classic” in any traditional sense, but certainly working toward coffee styles that these talented roasters hope will have lasting presence in the 21st century.

L2 LOVE Espresso Blend by DoDo Kaffa. Photo courtesy of Amanda Liao.

Taipei roaster Amanda Liao of DoDo Kaffa blended two coffees from different growing regions in Kenya (Nyeri and Kiambu) for her sweetly savory, spice-toned L2 Love Espresso Blend (93). This is a coffee that would be equally lovely prepared for brewed applications, and certainly a “classic” in regard to its celebrated origin and style (old-school Kenya).

Roasting at Dory Coffee Roasters in Taipei, Taiwan. Photo courtesy of Dory Coffee Roasters.

Dory Coffee Roasters’ Guatemala-Ethiopia Espresso Blend (93) combines both washed and natural-process Ethiopia coffees and a washed Guatemala to achieve a bright, floral, and sweetly herb-toned espresso shot, notes that persist nicely into the milk.

The roasting room at Small Eyes Cafe in Yilan, Taiwan. Photo courtesy of Sheng Hsu Chuang.

Sheng Hsu Chuang, also known as Tom Chuang, sent us what is perhaps the most avant-garde of the 46 coffees we tested, starting with the blend’s name: Sun Sun Sun Sun Sun Sun Sun Sun Sun. That’s not a typo; the repetition represents the nine different coffees (from Ethiopia, Panama, Guatemala and Honduras, all natural-processed) that went into this 93-rated blend. It is a fruit-bomb extraordinaire, more appealing in the straight shot than in milk with its deep, dessert-like fruit, candy, and rich floral notes.

Shih Hong Lin roasting at De Clieu Coffee Roasters. Photo courtesy of De Clieu Coffee Roasters.

De Clieu Coffee’s Karibu Espresso Blend (92) combines three natural-processed Ethiopia coffees with a washed Panama for an interesting sensory juxtaposition of sweet-tart fruit and spicy aromatic wood notes, a study in (integrated) contrasts.

A Six-Degrees-of-Separation Twist

Two of the roasters whose coffees we feature here, Jason Yu of Dory Coffee Roasters and Chi Hong Lin of De Clieu Coffee, happen to be students of roaster Kelly Wang of Greenstone Coffee, someone whose coffees we’ve reviewed for several years. We learned about these relationships by coincidence when corresponding with Wang after both Yu and Lin had reported to her the success of their blends in this month’s testing. Wang was a specialty coffee roaster without plans to teach, but when a coffee she roasted received a 95-point score from us here at Coffee Review (a washed Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Banko Gotiti), she was invited to collaborate with Cultural University in Taipei to lead a roasting course. Lin was Wang’s very first roasting student in 2017; she met Yu in 2018 and has been working with him one-on-one. Wang has kept up with both roasters and their progress, and she has gone on to teach 11 courses and more than 70 beginning roasters the craft.

Wang also offered some thoughts about how “classic” espresso might be interpreted by various kinds of roasters in Taiwan. She says, “Both Jason and Chi Hong are third-wave roasters. Young people here can accept espresso with some acidity and fruit tone — so many creative espressos can be popular if baristas can promote the concept to more customers.” She goes on to say that “older-style” roasters think of “classic espresso” as dark-roasted and bittersweet, hopefully with some chocolate notes. But she adds that, “Young roasters don’t like this style. They prefer lighter-roasted, fruitier coffees, both in the straight shot and in milk.”

Caesar Tu, of Kakalove Café, surmises that many younger roasters in Taiwan, or those new to the coffee industry, might have interpreted “classic” to mean their own favorite and most creative blends. He also attributes this interpretation to a language barrier; our communication with roasters in Taiwan can be difficult in regard to precise meanings. (Let’s just say that their English is infinitely better than our Mandarin.) Tu goes on to say that the Taiwanese, in general, are attracted to new experiences, so most serious specialty roasters are going for experimentation and innovation.

There Is No Conclusion

Sometimes, an inquiry raises more questions than answers, and this month’s report is a coffee case-in-point. One question is why we received 46 samples from Asia and all are from Taiwan.  It may be as simple as the fact that Coffee Review’s presence may be more established in Taiwan than in other Asian regions. Our ‘Coffees from Taiwan’ [台灣送評的咖啡豆] page  displays almost 400 reviews of fine coffees from Taiwanese roasters, considerably more than the number of reviews we display from other East Asian countries. And, despite an obvious language barrier, Taiwan has more Coffee Review readers than any other non-English speaking country. Of course, we would like to have an opportunity to review more coffees from other East Asian countries; in fact, more coffees from wherever in the world we have readers. But we also hope to facilitate even greater engagement with the coffee community in Taiwan and beyond by looking for ways to expand the amount of Coffee Review content available in Mandarin.

But for now, one thing is clear: The roasters from Taiwan whose coffees we tested for this report are obsessed with experimentation and unique blending concepts, and their creativity has resulted in a number of exciting, original espresso blends. Whether they are “classic” or not is also a question we decided we needn’t answer. These thoughtful artisanal coffee experiences are well worth seeking out, regardless of antecedent or tradition.

The post Exploring “Classic” Espresso Blends: Taiwan Roasters appeared first on Coffee Review.

What is clear is that good blending has always been a genuine art, and this year we decided to visit the notion of “classic” espresso blends. Of course, as soon as the word “classic” is uttered, controversy ensues. Instead of using the term in any prescriptive way, we decided to let roasters define it. We simply asked for “classic espresso blends” and left the interpretation open to the roasters.

What we got was a range of blends roasted for espresso, from Italian-style recipes to those described as “fourth wave.” We received 54 samples from roasters based in North America and 46 from roasters based in Asia, almost all from Taiwan.

Italy: Where Espresso Was Born

Tasting espressos, both in the straight shot and in milk, at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab and Tasting Room. Photo by Evan Gilman.

In Italy, where espresso was born, the straight shot of pressure-brewed coffee is quotidiana: everyday, inevitable. In fact, while ordering a milk-based espresso drink is fine during the morning hours, doing so in the afternoon — or, God forbid, the evening — will guarantee you more than one sideways glance and peg you as a tourist a presto.

The Challenging Practicalities

Even though we limited submissions to one per roaster, we received exactly 100 samples, far too many to test with this year’s lab partner, The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room in Oakland, California. We decided to rather arbitrarily divide the samples into two groups, one consisting of coffees roasted in North America and another of coffees roasted in Asia. This decision provided almost perfect symmetry in terms of sample numbers but also may end by suggesting some hypotheses about the culture of espresso in the two regions. (This report will cover only coffees submitted by North American roasters, while the Asia Classic Espresso report will come out next month.)

Barista Elise Becker, of The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab and Tasting Room, at work.
Photo by Evan Gilman.

My co-taster for the North American espresso samples was Evan Gilman, a Licensed Arabica Q-grader, musician, coffee-lover, and self-described avid generalist. He was also a most agreeable tasting partner: attentive, precise, and broadly conversational. We spent two days together with barista Ruthie Knudsen on day one and Elise Becker on day two, both talented baristas at The Crown, assisted by Coffee Review’s Jason Sarley, also a Licensed Arabica Q-Grader and multifaceted coffee pro.

Before we could set up shop for this event at The Crown, we still needed to whittle down the group of 54 coffees to a number we knew we could manage in two days. So, Jason and I spent a full week screening all the samples and ending up with 20 finalists to take to our tasting with Evan and crew.

Two Classic Italian Espresso Blends, as Interpreted by Their Roasters

While espresso as a brewing method continues to evolve, it is still based on technologies developed in Italy late in the last century. The machine we used at The Crown is a La Marzocco Linea PB, and Jason (our resident shot-puller) discussed with Ruthie and Elise our typical parameters: 19 grams in, 38 grams out over 27-28 seconds, while suggesting that the day’s barista had license to tweak that formula, as necessary. While this protocol might not be optimal for each and every coffee, it ensures consistency, and that’s important for fairness. We also taste blind, of course, just as we do when reviewing coffees year-round.

Ruthie Knudsen, a barista at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab and Tasting Room. Photo by Kim Westerman

But what about describing and evaluating the coffees selected for tasting following this protocol? Here is where it gets interesting, and the sensory experience of these coffees was the domain of my tasting with Evan.

We review here seven coffees that scored 93 and 94. Six additional coffees scored 90-91 (none scored 92), and seven others scored between 86 and 89. Not too shabby when you go to consider all the challenges that come into play when developing an espresso blend.

We assumed that many roasters would approach the call for “classic” submissions in terms of traditional Italian blending concepts. Generally speaking, this might mean a large percentage of dry-process coffees from Brazil (the sweetly nutty style of natural, not the fruit-forward type), along with a percentage of Colombia to encourage chocolate notes and perhaps an El Salvador or Guatemala to add nuance and balance  acidity. The blend that pretty much nails that formula is Dragonfly Coffee’s Crema de Dolce Espresso (the name obviously paying homage to its lineage), which we rated at 93. Of this blend, owner and roaster Tamas Christman says, “For me, a classic (specifically northern Italian-style) espresso is characterized by balance and texture. Traditionally, acidity or brightness was not a sought-after component in the espresso profile. Sweetness, body and a slight astringency are the goals. Crema Dolce has been designed to emphasize sweetness and body, with a slight drying on the finish, and not focus on acidity, in honor of this traditional style. It highlights dark cherry, brown sugar, caramel and chocolate, with subtle nuances of soft florals and a velvety-smooth texture across the entire mouthfeel.”

Dragonfly Coffee’s Crema de Dolce Italian-style espresso blend. Courtesy of Dragonfly Coffee Roasters.

Italy is also historically known for including coffees of the Robusta species in espresso blends. Robusta has a bad rap in the North-American specialty world, where it is almost universally associated with cheap supermarket blends. But does it always deserve this reputation?

Here, we have Paradise Roaster’s Espresso Classico (also rated 93), which utilizes Arabica coffees from Brazil and super-clean wet-processed Robustas meticulously sourced from Ecuador by innovative green-buyer Miguel Meza, whose mission it is to find quality microlot coffees from emerging origins. Meza says, “This Classico blend was actually the first coffee I ever sent from Paradise to Coffee Review back in 2004. That coffee also scored 93 points, which was, at the time, the highest score an espresso blend had received and really what helped launch our then-nascent company. Structurally, it isn’t much different today than it was then. It has always included a base of Brazilian coffees alongside washed Robustas.”

The Dragonfly is balanced and richly bittersweet, while the Paradise is cocoa-toned and sweetly tart, and both seemed to me and Evan simultaneously like the most “classic” of the lot in terms of the Italian model. We’d be happy to encounter either of these on the nearest piazza.

So, what other coffees rose to the top in our tasting, and how might these coffees fit into a definition of “classic” espresso?

History Is Not Destiny

At least two espresso blends here include natural-processed coffees of the fashionable fruit-centered style, including Red Rooster’s Old Crow Cupa Joe (93), which combines both washed and natural-processed coffees from Central and South America for a chocolaty, overtly fruit-driven espresso. Roaster Tony Greatorex says the popular blend is designed to have medium acidity and that he pays close attention to the Maillard development phase, which he measures as the beginning of color change (around 300 degrees) to first crack (around 380).  He says, “I’ve found that extending this period accentuates body and creates a mellow, rounded flavor profile, along with a smooth mouthfeel.”

Red Rooster’s Old Crow Cuppa Joe on the bar at the Floyd, Virginia coffee shop. Photo by Tony Greatorex.

“Classic” for Martin Trejo of Amavida Coffee Roasters, whose Espresso Mandarina scored 94, means “persistent crema, heavy body and plenty of sweetness to hold up in milk,” and the Mandarina  delivers on this goal via a post-roast-blending strategy. Trejo says “I roast a washed Congo and natural Ethiopia separately so I can focus on developing each coffee’s distinct profile before blending. This allows me to roast the Congo a little longer than the Ethiopia and focus on bringing out its sweetness to balance the espresso.”

Members of the Congo Muungano Co-op, where one component of Amavida’s Mandarina blend is produced. Courtesy of Martin Trejo.

Folly Coffee’s SOB Espresso (which Rob Bathe assures me stands for Single-Origin Blend; 94) uses a mélange roasting strategy, which involves bringing an identical coffee (or blend of coffees) to two different degrees of roast before blending them.  The SOB Espresso is a seasonally rotating selection, and this version is comprised of coffees from a variety of smallholder farms in Colombia. Bathe says he aims to “bring forward tasting notes of rich, bold, dark chocolate, with a depth of flavor and enough acidity to balance.” He also acknowledges that “classic” can imply “overwhelming notes of bitter and burnt aromas and flavors.” While some percentage of this blend is darker-roasted, he deftly avoids those negatives in favor of fudge-like chocolate notes and deep florals.

Folly Coffee Roasters’ SOB Espresso Blend. Courtesy of Rob Bathe.

Propeller Ace Espresso (93), roasted in Toronto, Canada, is no stranger to Coffee Review’s virtual pages. We first reviewed a version of this blend in 2014, and it has consistently scored 93 or 94. This year’s blend is caramel-toned and chocolaty, with stone fruit notes and rich nut-butter tones. Evan pegged this coffee a “new-wave classic” espresso for its high-toned balance and success in presenting a big, prominent fruit character that is integrated rather than disorienting in both straight shot and milk.

Pulling a shot of Propeller’s Ace Espresso. Courtesy of Propeller Coffee.

Our mutual favorite may have been Highwire’s The Core (94), and Evan and I were both thrilled to discover that this blind-tested winner was also a local coffee for us, roasted just down the street in Emeryville, California. A transparently sourced blend of coffees from Ethiopia, Guatemala, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and Sumatra (all conventionally wet-processed except for the wet-hulled Sumatra), this coffee intrigued us both with its notes of richly tart tangerine zest, earthy-sweet pipe tobacco, and lavish honeysuckle, all enveloped in clear dark chocolate tones. Founder Rich Avella replaces the Robusta in traditional Italian formulas with Sumatra, suggesting that the Lintong coffee in The Core gives “rustic” ballast to the “floral, citric” brightness of the Ethiopia and elegant cocoa of the Guatemala. He sees the PNG as a harmonizing bridge.

Highwire’s The Core Espresso. Courtesy of Highwire Coffee.

Avella says, “Our aim is to create an espresso with expressive, high-end heft, balance and complexity through the skills of sourcing, blending, and roasting. What makes The Core classic first is that it’s a blend. It’s not a single-origin expression of one farm. That can be amazing, too, but we’re excited by the chance to create a coffee that doesn’t already exist through thoughtful blending. To me, classic espresso has depth and tension between brightness and syrupy heft and between bitter and sweet. For a classic espresso to interest me, it also has to have sweetness and juiciness.”

In Closing, A New Definition of Style?

I’m not sure how close we’ve come to defining “classic” espresso, but it has been fun trying. Thanks to the roasters who not only sent in interesting coffees but also took the time to articulate their thought processes when approaching the notion of “classic.”

There’s much talk in the specialty coffee industry about “waves,” second and third, and we’re starting to hear buzz about the “fourth wave,” which we are, perhaps, already wading into. I’ll leave you with a thought from Folly Coffee’s Bathe, who mused on this particular time in coffee history.

He says, “To me, third wave is all about getting the most intense, unique, crazy (in a good way) flavors to come out of specialty coffees as a reaction to the simple and homogeneous flavor profiles found in the second wave. In the fourth wave, there is a bit of a swing-back, and we’re asking how we can create these flavors while keeping balance and harmony to create a more enjoyable cup, not just a unique sip.”

This is as good a definition of the “new classic” as I’ve heard, and all of the coffees represented here fit that model in one way or other.

Stay tuned for the July report on “classic espressos” roasted in Asia.

About Co-Taster Evan Gilman, Creative Director at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room.

Evan Gilman’s 17 years in the coffee industry have taken him from barista to trainer to Q-Arabica Grader and SCA-Licensed AST. Evan spent time in Southeast Asia getting to know the specialty coffee supply chain, from Sumatra, Bali, Flores, and Sulawesi in Indonesia, to Northern Luzon in the Philippines. His passions range from Balinese gamelan to heavy metal, from photography to communications design, and from baking to brewing. As Creative Director at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room, he manages community events, social media, photo/video production, and graphic design. He is also the chief editor of the blog at royalcoffee.com, and curator of the Gallery at The Crown.

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One of the major difficulties faced whenever one tries to review proprietary coffee systems is how to maintain a level playing field when evaluating coffees produced by different machines and systems. The most dramatic example of that difficulty among this month’s three systems resided in the milk heating and frothing functions.

And, in the case of the Starbucks Verismo system, the identity of the milk, since the Verismo comes with its own proprietary milk capsules. I am sure that in Starbucks meeting rooms far above the folk who know something about coffee, the idea of selling proprietary milk as well as coffee (We can sell the milk too! Holy cow [sorry], that way we can sell twice, no, three times, no four times as much product!) was a persuasive bottom-line argument, bolstered by the idea that milk capsules remove the guesswork element from the beverage production. And, indeed, the photocopied “Reviewer’s Guide” to the Starbucks system was a superb model of clear, engaging communication.

But the milk! It is beyond bad; basically, it is no exaggeration to report it tastes like detergent and old sponge, and utterly ruined any potential positive characteristics imparted to it by the Starbucks espresso capsules.

Turning to milk delivery with the other two tested systems, the Keurig/Lavazza Rivo comes with a click-in milk-frothing jug that lets you choose your own milk, and which performs very well, almost as well as the stand-alone milk frother for the Nespresso system. In cappuccino mode it produced an impressively dense micro-froth.

And the Singolo? Hey, you’re on your own when it comes to milk, friend, because this is an Italian machine and from an Italian perspective drinking espresso with hot frothed milk is a habit mainly limited to children and Americans.

So, when we came to evaluating the espressos delivered with these machines in the “With Milk” category, what were we to do? On one hand, we could accept the milk option presented by each of the systems. Use the Starbucks milk capsules with the Starbucks espresso capsules, whole milk in the Rivo milk frothing jug with the Rivo/Lavazza capsules, and for the Singolo … what? Heat three parts milk to 150F as we usually do, using the steam wand on our La Marzocco, I suppose.

My colleague Jason Sarley argued that this approach would not be fair, because the Starbucks coffees would labor under a huge disadvantage and because they would constitute exceptions to our general testing protocols. On the other hand, I argued that scores arrived at using whole milk properly steamed would mislead beginning consumers tempted to buy the Verismo system.

I ended agreeing with Jason, though we decided to insert a caveat at the beginning of each review of a Verismo capsule warning consumers that using the Starbucks milk capsule reduced the overall rating by a minimum of two to three points. This is a number we arrived at through testing, by the way, in which the same coffee prepared with steamed whole milk consistently scored 6 to 7 for the With Milk category, but 4 when we used the Starbucks milk.

The post How Does One Rate Milk!? appeared first on Coffee Review.

We first evaluated coffees brewed on single-serve machines in our January 2004 article – At What Cost Convenience? Testing the New Single-Serve Coffee Systems.  We compared the systems from Flavia, Melitta, and Keurig, the emerging market leader.  Keurig-brewed K-Cups earned the six top scores (85+) and even produced a 90-point cup: Timothy’s Colombian La Vereda.

We reviewed single-cup brewers again in two December 2005 articles:

At What Cost Convenience: Tasting the New Crop of Single-Serve Coffee Systems

A User’s Survey: Single-Serve Coffee Brewing Systems

In January, 2009, we reviewed single-serve brewing systems that use pods or capsules to brew espresso: Convenience First: Espresso Pods and Capsules.  Both the Nespresso and IllyCaffe systems fared well, with scores in the high 80’s and even a 90-point review.

Nespresso – Ristretto Espresso (black capsule) – 91 points

IllyCaffe – Espresso Tostatura Media iperEspresso Capsule – 90 points

We revisited single-serve systems again in April 2011 – The Single-Serve Compromise and, most recently, in April 2013 – The (Not Quite Arrived) New World of K-Cups.

With the growing demand for convenient single-serve coffee and espresso brewing systems, and strong margins for manufacturers, new and upgraded single-serve coffee systems are coming on the market quickly.  In July, we will evaluate four of the newer single-serve capsule espresso systems, including the Keurig/Lavazza Rivo, Starbucks’ Verissimo, the Canadian/Italian Singolo system, along with the well-established Nespresso system.

The post Single-Serve Coffee and Espresso Reviews appeared first on Coffee Review.

Thirty-Thirty Coffee Co. by Momma Bear Espresso, $17.00/12 ounces.

Tchembe Single Origin Espresso by Barrington Coffee Roasters, $24.95/12 ounces.

Rutana Burundi Espresso by Johnson Brothers Coffee, $13.95/12 ounces.

As of today, June 19, the first two still appear to be available on the roasters’ websites.

The other three espressos that earned 94 points are produced by roasters outside the United States.  Two are from roasters in Taiwan:

Kenya AB Top Lot Single-Origin Espresso by Simon Hsieh Aroma Roast Coffee, NT $1300/16 ounces.

Ninety Plus Kemgin W2 Ethiopia by Cafe Est, NT $1300/16 ounces.

The other espresso was produced by The Coffee Academics in Hong Kong:

Gesha S94 by The Coffee Academics, HK $288/100 grams.

We’re looking forward to sampling more great espressos in the second half of the year.

The post Top-Rated Espressos from the First Half of 2013 appeared first on Coffee Review.

However, the average price of coffees intended for espresso brewing was dramatically less than than that for other coffees.  The average price for espressos, most of which were single origins, was $18.99 per pound.  The non-espressos averaged $24.32 per pound.  That’s a difference of $5.33, or more than 20%!

Yes, we’re dealing with only 6 months of reviews so it’s possible that it is just a statistical anomaly.  However, looking at the data in more detail, it appears that high-end outliers drive much of the higher cost of non-espressos.  For example, we see a handful of outstanding Hawaiian coffees that cost upward of $50 per pound that we just don’t see as espressos.  We see expensive luwak or civet coffees that typically aren’t intended for espresso brewing.  High quality, more expensive Cup of Excellence coffees seem to appear more frequently as non-espressos than as espressos.

However, even normalizing for these outliers, espressos are still almost $2 per pound less expensive than non-espressos.  Why is that?  Is it a conscious effort?  Do American roasters as a whole focus their resources on non-espressos?  Do they put their best and most expensive beans in non-espressos?  Or can they simply charge more for non-espressos?

The post Are Espressos A Bargain? appeared first on Coffee Review.

I am not alone in feeling that, as espresso in the United States moves from shots of over-roasted high-grown coffee drowned in hot milk to a more restrained, urbane menu of straight shots and short milk drinks produced from naturally sweet coffees [this was written in 2003, recall] a culture of connoisseurship will develop around espresso, a culture keyed not only to more distinctive and varied espresso blends, but to single origin coffees as well.

Today that culture of espresso connoisseurship appears to be fully developed, and very much focused on single-origin espressos. This month we make our third report on single-origin espressos since that first article appeared ten years ago. We sampled twenty-eight samples from twenty-eight roasting companies in North America and Taiwan. We conducted the tasting at Verve Coffee Roaster’s airy and spacious product development lab in Santa Cruz, California with the assistance and support of Jesse Crouse, Product Development Director for Verve, Cole Billings, Verve trainer, and Devin Eiring, Production Roaster. Our deepest thanks to Verve for generously sharing its facility and expert personnel.

A Co-Taster and a Clarification

As usual with Coffee Review espresso tastings, I enlisted an experienced co-taster to help me capture the often daunting sensory subtlety of espresso production. This time around, however, the taster asked not to be identified. His ratings and observations appear integrated with mine in the eleven reviews associated with this article, however, and I hope the clarity and incisiveness he brought to the tasting is apparent in the context of the reviews. Careful readers also should note that in this month’s reviews there is often a discrepancy between the published overall rating and the overall rating implied by ratings for individual categories like aroma, body, etc. This discrepancy was occasioned by the need to average upward to resolve discrepancies in both category and overall ratings between the two tasters.

The Scorecard

Of the twenty-eight espressos we sampled, about half scored 90 or better. Linked to this article are reviews of the eleven highest rated, all 91 or over. Most of the samples rating less than 90 clustered in the 87 to 89 range. Obviously this overall outcome suggests that the practice of offering single-origin espressos appears to be serving consumers well.

Light and Bright

It was striking how many of the single-origin espressos nominated by roasters consisted of a style of coffee traditionally associated with drip brewing rather than with espresso: green coffees from regions with high growing altitudes processed by the wet or “washed” method and brought to a light-to-medium roast. Such coffees tend, in general, to display an acidy brightness (owing to high growing altitude and lightish roast) and relatively low viscosity (owing to processing method), both tendencies that would seem to promote undesirable sharpness and reduce body in straight-shot espresso. However, many roasters pride themselves on their ability to reduce acidity and fatten mouthfeel for espresso brewing through roast profiling strategies, and I assume that they also select high-grown washed lots that appear to have a particular potential for espresso.

The highest rated of the high-grown washed, light-to-medium-roasted nominations was a sweetly bright, classically lemony and floral Ethiopia Yirgacheffe from Victrola Coffee Roasters (92) that at a medium roast succeeded in coming across as zesty rather than sharp, with the elegant aromatic vivacity of the Yirgacheffe washed type mostly intact. Interestingly, both my co-taster and I were willing to forgive its very light mouthfeel as an appropriate extension of its lively aromatics. The Conduit Coffee Guatemala Finca La Perla (91), also a classic high-grown washed coffee with clear origin character, was roasted considerably lighter than the Victrola Yirgacheffe, at the far light end of medium, but like the Victrola Yirgacheffe managed to soften the acidy brightness just enough to allow us to enjoy its lively, distinctive flavor and aroma in an espresso format.

In other words, both of these coffees successfully managed the balancing act of bringing the brightness and high-toned aromatic intensity of a distinctive single-origin washed high-grown coffee into an espresso sensory space without allowing it to come across as too sharp, astringent or thin-bodied. A handful of other high-grown washed samples did not quite manage to stay on the tightrope, however, displaying as either a bit too sharp and acidy as espresso, or a little too dull, suggesting perhaps that the roastmaster in pursuing his or her strategies to mute acidity also managed to mute flavor and aroma.

Round and Chocolaty

A second category among the samples – high-grown washed coffees brought to a moderately dark roast, poised just at the edge of the “second crack” – produced this month’s highest-rated sample, the 93-rated Conscious Coffee Organic Colombia SOS Espresso Roast. For readers not familiar with the strategies of roast style, coffees like this one are not “dark” roasted like Starbucks and Peet’s are dark roasted. In this case the roast is terminated just before, or occasionally just at, the point that the pungent, roasty sensation begins to develop. The goal is to maximize caramelly sweetness without introducing any burned flavor whatsoever, round acidity, fatten body, and turn the fruit notes gently toward chocolate and pungently sweet stone fruit like apricot.

The Conscious Coffee Colombia achieved this tricky move close to perfectly with a roast that managed to maintain the crisp berry and sweet floral notes associated with medium roasts while promoting deeper, more raisiny fruit and chocolate. The Revel Coffee Guatemala Santa Sofia (92) pulled off a roughly parallel outcome with an almost identical roast color, simultaneously promoting a bright, refreshing fruit note (“strawberry” for the co-taster) rounded by a fudgy chocolate sensation.

Espresso-izing the New Naturals

Some of the classic origins associated with espresso, especially natural Brazils and traditionally processed Sumatras, were missing from roaster nominations for this article, perhaps owing to lack of availability (we are nearing the end of the current crop year for Brazils) or perhaps owing to changing tastes favoring brighter, more acidy coffees. We did, however, find ourselves tasting a considerable number of what I like to call the “new naturals,” a coffee type in which the coffee beans or seeds are allowed to dry inside the ripe coffee fruit rather than after the fruit residue has been removed, as it is in the “washed” or wet process. Regular readers of Coffee Review are familiar with descriptions of the characteristics imparted to coffee by the ripe, drying fruit: sweetness, a mild to intense fruit ferment that may provoke associations ranging from brandy to fruit cider, and often (though not always) a more syrupy than usual mouthfeel.

Coffee purists and some traditionalists consider any fermented note in coffee a negative taint and grounds for dismissing the coffee, but most of us have found a way to value sweet ferment in this style of coffee, and have established criteria for judging when we feel it is balanced and successful or when it strikes us as too luridly lush or bitter-finishing.

Pure Expectations

My co-taster turned out to be a bit more of a purist than me in respect to the dried-in-the-fruit samples we tasted, although many of our judgments did overlap. A bitterish finish characteristic of mediocre samples of the dried-in-the-fruit type led us both to dismiss one sample with identical low ratings. On the other hand, the Seattle Coffee Works Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Guji Natural (92) and the Café Est Ninety Plus Nekisse SO Espresso (92), both dried-in-the-fruit samples with a ferment-toned flavor complex but a clean finish, attracted high ratings from both of us, although in both cases my score was two points higher than my co-taster’s. We differed more dramatically, however, in respect to the big-bodied Bacca Café El Salvador Natural Finca Malacara (91) in which an intense sweet fruit and brandy character was complemented by a slightly savory, herby note that I considered a legitimate and satisfying complication whereas my co-taster apparently did not.

Some roasters have argued that dried-in-the-fruit types are particularly well-suited to espresso because they tend in general to display a fuller, more viscous mouthfeel and a rounder, more backgrounded acidity than do wet-processed coffees, both tendencies traditionally considered positive in espresso cuisine.

However, having finished this latest exercise, I had the feeling that I might have actually preferred the best and cleanest of the dried-in-the-fruit coffees had they been roasted and offered for brewed application. I occasionally felt while tasting that a coffee’s full promise was being held down just a little, its potential for soaring top notes and full range of expression muted by the espresso method and perhaps whatever roast-profiling strategies the roastmaster applied to better suit the coffee for espresso brewing.

On the other hand, some quieter wet-processed coffees that I have tested earlier this year for brewed application rated higher in espresso application than they did when cupped. My regular cupping partner Jason Sarley and I rated the Just Love Peruvian Café Feminino Cecanor Coop at 89 in a recent cupping, but it emerged at a close-to-consensus 91 in this espresso tasting. Similarly, we rated the Conscious Coffee Colombia Fondo Paez 91 when we cupped it at a medium roast about three or four months ago, but roasted a bit darker and brewed as espresso (and perhaps quieted by further resting as a green coffee) it came out a top-rated 93 in this month’s tasting.

Blind-Tasting Espresso

This month’s espresso samples were tasted blind; in other words, the identities of the coffees were revealed to us tasters only after we had determined our ratings and sketched out our descriptions. Which brings me to Coffee Review’s oft-repeated defense of the practice of blind-tasting espressos using standardized preparation protocols. (Skip this if you’ve read it before, which is likely if you are a regular reader.)

Some espresso aficionados and professionals question us whenever we run another such standardized blind tasting of espressos. Admittedly there are unusual issues at play in evaluating espressos. Coffee generally is a fragile beverage that is in a continual state of re-creation. In particular, there is an intimate interplay between the espresso coffee and the extraordinarily complex act of brewing it on expensive, sophisticated pieces of machinery. I certainly have no problem with people publishing reviews of espresso coffees in which they have made every possible adjustment within their technical capabilities to maximize the performance of the coffee being reviewed. This practice provides valuable insight for everyone.

On the other hand, there also is enormous value in gathering a lot of coffees in one room, subjecting them all to the same protocols and procedures (protocols and procedures that reflect a consensus of industry leaders), and with everything stripped away except the fact of the cup itself, with all triggers of expectations, loyalties and coffee ideologies hidden and out of sight, taste and report honestly on what one has tasted.

Very likely there were some espressos in this month’s tasting that might have attracted higher ratings had they been extracted at, for example, higher water temperatures or lower temperatures. Or using one of many brewing nuances available to skilled baristas.

However, coffees that do well at standard brewing parameters using standard protocols carry at least some reassurance that they are versatile enough to perform well in home equipment with its typically very limited control of brewing variables. Which is, again, the main point here: We want our readers to be happy with their coffee.

2013 The Coffee Review. All rights reserved.

The post Lighter and Brighter: Single-Origin Espressos appeared first on Coffee Review.

Of course single-farm espressos always express differences in character, sometimes startling differences. But recognizing and enjoying these differences is part of the fun. When Sean Kohmescher of Temple Coffee hosted us at his shop and roastery in a sunnily unpretentious but (it turned out) rather sophisticated neighborhood in Sacramento, California, we sampled an impressive range of very distinctive and very different single-origin espressos, from the clean, bright (but not too bright), floral/lemony to the deep, dark-chocolaty and occasionally edgily fruity or musky.

The overall quality of our twenty-six samples was impressive, perhaps extraordinary. Our lowest score was 85, and the average rating was just under 90. None of the reviewed samples was taken to a roast degree darker than just preceding or just at the second crack (what used to be called “full city”). Many were presented at a medium to medium-light roast. Regardless of roast level, roasters presumably pursued roast protocols designed to round acidity and promote full mouthfeel.

A Typical Single-Farm Espresso?

What was a typical submission for this tasting? A washed coffee from Latin America or eastern/central Africa with relatively low acidity and pleasantly rounded citrus and floral notes. Successful samples of this style generally attracted ratings of 88 to 89. The eleven samples reviewed here at 90 to 94 in various ways pulled away from the pack, either because they were different enough to be intriguing, or complete enough to be exceptional, or both.

The Bright but Balanced

The highest-rated examples of a brighter, lemon-and-flowers style, like the Terroir Ethiopia Yirgacheffe (94) and Olympia Burundi Kiryama (93), stretched their profiles toward cocoa or chocolate while retaining higher-toned fruit and citrus notes. The Café Grumpy Colombia El Paraiso (91), one of the lightest roasted of the reviewed coffees, presented uncompromised lemon, honey and floral character in an espresso presentation that ultimately only rounded and softened in milk, though once there performed that transformation beautifully. Simon Hsieh’s rare 100% Taiwan coffee, also rather light-roasted, showed either mainly lemon and honey if you follow Sean’s reading, or added a little pungent dark chocolate and fir if you follow mine. The same difference surfaced in Sean’s and my reading of the lightish-roasted Intelligentsia Peru Cruz Del Sur (90). I was pretty much alone in registering some dark caramelly and chocolate complication to a dominantly citrus and floral expression.

The Definitely Deep

At the deep and resonant end of the sensory spectrum the surprising Las Chicas Del Café Nicaragua (94) impressed with great complexity and depth: stone fruit, berry, nut, dark chocolate. Sean nicely identified the appeal of the Victrola Bolivia Caranavi (94): a sort of richly nut-toned and fudge-like chocolate sensation complicated by a little edge of low-acid fruit. Both of these samples were brought to a roast level just preceding or just at the second crack, a style that, as many readers know, tends to deepen fruit, turning it away from citrus and toward stone fruit and chocolate.

The Dry-Processed and Edgy

Drying coffee in the fruit – dry-processing – often produces taints that at the right level of intensity and structure contribute to the pleasure some of us take in coffee. For example, dry-processing done right may encourage a sweet fruit ferment that reads as berries, particularly blueberries, or brandy and cherryish chocolate. But often – too often – the sweet ferment is complicated by a mustiness contributed by micro-organisms attracted by the sugars. These musty or mildew notes are usually not pleasant, though they can be if they are sufficiently supported by sweetness, which coaxes them to read as pungent fruit or pleasant earth notes like fresh-turned humus or moist, fresh-fallen leaves.

Of the coffees we reviewed, three showed clear dried-in-the-fruit or natural character. The Novo Coffee Ethiopia Anyetsu was the cleanest tasting of the three, with an enriching hint of fruit that at most very slightly flirted with ferment. Since it lacked controversy, Sean and I were able to come home together on this coffee at 91. We split on other two more problematic naturals, however. The Velton’s Mexico Nayarita (90), from a project in Mexico with a long and honorable history of dried-in-the-fruit coffees, attracted a 92 from Sean for its deep stone fruit and chocolate, whereas Ken, at 88, also found this character prominent and attractive but shadowed by a salty, perhaps musty edge. We reversed positions on the Muddy Dog Brazil Moreninha Formosa Raisin (92), a coffee apparently systematically allowed to dry, at least in part, on the trees rather than in controlled circumstances on drying patios or tables. Coffee fruit dried on the tree is particularly vulnerable to the molds that create a musty or mildewed character because it is not protected from moisture during drying as patio- or table-dried fruit is (or should be). Consequently the Moreninha Formosa Raisin showed a clear fruity/musty character. But for me (94) it was a rich, sweet-toned sensation that I had no trouble calling pungently earthy and grapefruity, in the best tradition of Sumatra coffees. Sean only partly bought into the pleasingly pungent reading, however; his somewhat half-hearted 90 reflects his reservations.

What’s a Single-Origin Coffee?

A last note on definitions. I think it is clear that, for starters, a single-origin coffee for the purposes of a review like this one needs to have been produced on a single farm or at a single wet mill. However, that definition allows for significant ambiguity, as cooperatives in particular can be huge; wet mills often process coffee cherry from a large variety of terroirs, and large farms frequently split their production by processing method, harvest timing, field, cultivar, etc. So ideally, perhaps, a single-origin coffee ought to be a coffee roasted from a single limited lot of green coffee from a single farm, wet mill or cooperative. Perhaps we should call them single-lot coffees rather than single-origin.

On the other hand, what are we to think about a coffee from the same farm that is a blend of two different processing methods? The remarkably successful 94-rated Las Chicas Del Café El Patron Espresso was exactly that: a blend of beans from the same farm (and the same tree variety, the heirloom Bourbon), but processed by two different methods, dried-in-the-fruit and washed. Surely this canny on-the-farm blending (not to mention the impact of the Bourbon) was a contributor to its excellence.

This example indicates how problematic absolute definitions can be of single-origin or even single-farm. All of the coffees reviewed here except one, the Simon Hsieh Taiwan, fit the broader definition of single-origin cited above: a coffee limited to a single crop from a single farm, cooperative or wet mill. Several of the reviewed coffees also appeared to fit the second, narrower definition, a single lot of coffee from a single farm, cooperative or wet mill, though some may have not. However, we decided not to get too picky, at least not this year. We also decided to accept Simon’s Taiwan coffee, despite the possibility that it is a blend of green coffees from different Taiwanese farms, because, after all, the entire coffee production of Taiwan is probably considerably smaller than the output of even an average-sized Latin American farm, not to mention one of the larger farms of Brazil. To keep this Taiwan coffee out of the mix at this point seemed like a disqualification based on a technicality. Simon, by the way, also submitted an excellent Ethiopia Yirgacheffe (92); we decided to review his Taiwan coffee rather than the Yirgacheffe because it brought a unique origin to the article.

Temple Coffee, Sean Kohmescher and Leslie Fraser

Shots for this month’s reviews were pulled by Leslie Fraser, Coffee and Wholesale Trainer for Temple Coffee, a very fine boutique, two-location roaster/retailer founded, owned and managed by Sean Kohmescher in Sacramento, California. Leslie started pulling shots for Temple Coffee at its founding in 2005. Sean is Barista Guild Chapter Representative for California and Hawaii and a certified Specialty Coffee Association of America trainer. He is passionate about finding amazing coffees and a particular sucker for stone-fruity ones. His loves include his baby, his wife, his dog, his cat, coffee, and car-racing.

The Value of Blind-Tasting Espressos

Finally, here it is again; please skip it if you’ve already read it: a defense of blind-tasting espressos using standardized preparation protocols. To synthesize a couple of quotes from earlier Coffee Review articles:

One would think that given the almost universal use of uniform blind tasting protocols and procedures to evaluate virtually every beverage and food now existing in the Western world we would not have to defend the use of those same protocols and procedures to evaluate espresso. Nevertheless, some espresso aficionados and some professionals question us every time we run another blind tasting of espressos.

Admittedly there are unusual issues at play in evaluating espressos. Coffee generally is a fragile beverage that is in a continual state of re-creation. In particular, there is an intimate interplay between the espresso coffee and the extraordinarily complex act of brewing it on expensive, sophisticated pieces of machinery. I certainly have no problem with people publishing reviews of espresso coffees in which they have made every possible adjustment within their technical capabilities to maximize the performance of the coffee being reviewed. This practice provides valuable insight for everyone.

On the other hand, there also is enormous value in gathering a lot of coffees in one room, subjecting them all to the same protocols and procedures (protocols and procedures that reflect a consensus of industry leaders), and with everything stripped away except the fact of the cup itself, with all triggers of expectations, loyalties and coffee ideologies hidden and out of sight, taste and report honestly on what one has tasted.

Very likely there were some espressos in this month’s tasting that might have attracted higher ratings had they been extracted at, for example, higher water temperatures or lower temperatures. Or using one of many brewing nuances available to skilled baristas like Leslie.

However, coffees that do well at standard brewing parameters using standard protocols carry at least some reassurance that they are versatile enough to perform well in home equipment with its typically very limited control of brewing variables. Which is, again, the main point here: We want our readers to be happy with their coffee.

2011 The Coffee Review. All rights reserved.

The post Single-Origin Espressos appeared first on Coffee Review.