Aside from long list of coffees we have roasted as single estate espresso, we've had quite a bit of fun creating some unique pairings. Here's a top 5 of the ones I miss with a little info on the name schemes and if we might bring them back for a return appearance.
1. The first really fun espresso we did was Linnaean St. Espresso. This was a project specifically over at Simon's (1736 Mass Ave) but it took on a life of it's own for a little while. The idea was paying homage to a Cambridge coffee shop institution. It's been a long time since we've had a coffee from Brasil so rebuilding this Brasil/Costa Rica/Kenya profile would be unlikely. I'd love to do a run of something similar around the Holidays, maybe call it our Christmas only espresso. We might even bring back the vintage label style for that... maybe not.
2. Doppelganger espresso was just us having a ton of fun. There were several versions of this but the idea was take two amazing Kenyan coffees and turn them into a challenging espresso. Doppelganger was a clever one because the pairings were often 1:1 lending the name some humor. We still get people asking when we are going to do another run of this and we are thinking about it but found Ruthangati to be too strong to be paired with Othaya.
3. SOMA espresso was our flagship espresso for a long time. There have been three iterations but the idea was pairing up the best of Zone10 and Doppelganger by pairing two Guatemalan coffees with a Kenyan coffee. The name was a misleading one intentionally for all the things it could mean (and probably doesn't) but we are planning on bringing it back very soon.
4. Zone 10 was a personal favorite and had a huge following among our regulars. People still ask about this coffee though it's been off the shelf for some time. The name came from Zona Viva (Zone 10) in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Zone 10 is a bit of a tourist and restaurant/club area but also an area where many coffee brokers ply their trade. Zone 10 was a pairing of our best Guatemalan coffees offered as espresso and we'll bring it back in month.
5. Homunculus Espresso was a pairing of two Ethiopia coffees along the lines of Doppelganger naming schemes, this blend had a very specific intent inspired. By pairing 30 percent of a washed Sidamo with 70 percent of a washed Yirgacheffe, the deep floral of the Yirgacheffe was dominated by the smaller portion of Sidamo. The Sidamo in effect was running the show even though it was a smaller component. We'd love to bring it back but maybe next year.
Honorable mention: The Villain Espresso was one of those pairings that got out of hand. It was hugely successful in spite of it being one that was not uniformly loved among the staff. A Brasil with an El Salvador intended to be traditional and a bit boring, it was heavy bodied and milk chocolate in the best way. We may or may not find a way to bring this back but the name was tongue in cheek being contrary to what we had done before.
