New limited run espresso: Reanimator and Linnaean St.

The current espresso project is a lively and juicy shot with very interesting aromatics.  This lighter brighter espresso is an impressive match of three very different coffees. It's made up of Guatemala El Bosque, Colombia Matambo, and Colombia San Sebastian.  Sebastian is the base with an extremely clean and sweet profile topped with a light pear aroma.  Bosque and Nazareth intermingle adding both a deep berry punch to the cup but also a strong aromatic citrus component.

The other current project is the return of Linnaean St. espresso blend.  It's a classic in our lineup that many of our early supporters still talk about.  We are even going to do a bit of a throwback label to do it justice.  This blend is light, bright, and aromatic.  When rested properly, the pairing of Kenya Othaya, Guatemala El Bosque, and Colombia San Sebastian are very expressive.  Much like the old 'L Street' blend, this has very nice aromatics and goes for a fruit punch feel.  Given that Simon's (which is coming up on 10 years as a cafe) was the inspiration for this blend, it's also going to double as a celebration blend of sorts.

We are offering both on the website as a package until Christmas.  

About a label

This is not the first version of our labels and it won't be the last. Currently though, our main goal is to have a label that is simple and transparent.



The origin takes a secondary place to the farm name/blend name but is still noted. Below, you have some simple color coded info on the processing and other identifiers about the coffee such as region or coop. We have been emphatic about transparency for blends and are adamant about percentages on the bags. We are glad to see other roasters taking the same tact in the US market. We have not put certifications such as Fair Trade or Organic on the relevant bags for many reasons.

At the recent NERBC, I was confounded by a company rep pitching a Kenya that was sourced through 'the second window'. I was a bit confused because it almost sounded like he was pitching it as a recent coffee but that 'second window' hasn't appeared yet for this harvest so the Kenya had to be approaching a full year off harvest and I guarantee it wasn't vacuum sealed so add jute bagged to the equation. It reminded me vintage is relevant and we need to rethink noting which coffees are sealed at origin because past crop has a different meaning if the coffee was in jute as opposed to sealed.

Anyway, we have blocked off a small section of the bag for brewing instructions. In most cases, this is just a suggested guideline to help consumers out. You would be surprised how simply having 27 seconds on the bag can induce many customers to ask, 'How do I get the shot to 27 seconds?' That's an incredibly powerful moment where many doors open that lead to better coffee at home. Most machines don't have solid temperature controls but it helps to have a ballpark target to offset around so we included specific brew temps and also dose.

While not every consumer will have the equipment to follow the specs, we felt generic specs were a bad idea. On Poker face, the specs are pretty much what Nik uses at Taste, for Linnaean St. it's the specs Simon uses. You can probably pull those coffees a dozen ways but I always think of a consumer walking into a cafe or tasting, having a shot, then getting frustrated about not being able to repeat it at home. Believe me, I was there many a time. Having the specs helps and I have a lot of emails from home espresso enthusiasts where the discussions have gone from getting a new grinder to flushing routines and dosing technique. All of which is good discussion to have if they want to come close to the cafe experience.

Everything in it's place

I spent a lot of time today with a mix of good personalities in shop. Saturdays in the lab are often like this and that was a big part of why we wanted to be open to the public. A&E is confirmed(and registered) as sending Ethan down to compete in the NERBC and the other more barismo specific news is that we will have some representation in Harvard Sq. soon. That last bit is for another day though and represents a lot more hard work to do before we can pat ourselves on the back just yet.

Later in the day I was pulling our L. St. blend at competition specs trying to get my head wrapped around exactly how robust that espresso is. A lot of home users have been consistently getting shots of this shorter and at hotter temps than we have been pulling it in shop and I decided to put this to the test. I ran the gamut of temps and then I found myself actually enjoying the punch of a shorter but hotter shot. Interesting, though I will keep tuning it at our stock temps. Simon's has this as a guest but ask for Simon if you are having a shot(and ask for it ristretto!).

Current incarnations of this blend have been more friendly to milk and for what it's worth, I have been happy that it was coming out well in a cappuccino. By no means should that be the measure of a good espresso though. Poker Face comes out particularly robustly in milk but that is a different animal entirely and yet it's prowess is still in it's complexity as a straight shot. In my biased opinion, it's consistently the best shot in town regardless of the milk. I think that's how it should be, a focus on the coffees and not the dairy.

For chuckles today, I was playing around with pouring latte art in the 5.5oz cups to see if I could keep the portions right and still get the ring of crema judges tend to look for. Moderate success at best with some old Garelick milk. It's not quite as easy as you would think to pull off without any milk waste AND pull off two cups in a row. It's something that I am thinking about as we head off to competitions.

I am not personally very found of the dark ring around a cappuccino any more than I am one of those who decries the existence of the decorated cappa. My personal opinion is that the more layered the surface is, the smoother the experience is. Folding the milk into the cup in such a way that the crema is textured into the surface in expanding layers always seemed more pleasant than the intense burst of reddened foam at the ring of the cup. Maybe I am contradicting the larger coffee community who may desire a bit more contrast in the cappa but that's how I feel.

After the competition gigs are over, we will resume hosting popular events. From this point on though, we will have more formal sessions and avoid the general open house situations. We are open to the public 5 days a week so we think it's time to have more brewing focused classes. If good coffee ended with perfect green or a fabulous roast, we could all enjoy coffee easily but it doesn't come bottled like wine so we have to put in a little more effort when we get the coffee home. That's where the classes will be focused. New sessions begin after February 9th so stay tuned.

The utility blend

I never believed as a barista that you could really have a great espresso that was good as a shot and in copious amounts of milk. To expect this feeling to change when I started roasting would be a bit presumptuous.

At one point or another, I have worked with many different espresso blends. There were those that made good shots, others made acceptable shots and good short milk drinks, still others only seemed geared at cutting through a 16oz latte.

It has been my feeling that espresso should be purposeful not utilitarian. Roast for purpose. If we are roasting our estate coffees and refining them each for specific brew methods, why wouldn't the same apply for espresso?

To that end, the L St. is a straight shot. It never occurred to me to work with it in milk. The current version is coming out really nice as a straight shot but all the complexity and sweetness is lost in a lot of milk. It just isn't tested in milk and I wouldn't take offense if someone didn't like it in milk.

We have done more milk geared espresso before. Rudiments being one, which also briefly doubled as 'You're beautiful'. It's just a matter of a good match.

The reason this is worth posting is not a defense or even about an explanation. It occurs to me that all too often we approach coffee from the lowest common denominator. We, the professionals, ask ourselves how it will taste in milk with sugar instead of simply asking ourselves, does it taste good. Well, does it?

Maybe the reason people put condiments in coffee is habitual. Maybe, though, it is because so many coffees are served with the thought that it will have condiments added to it. I guess if we focus on 16oz lattes that the espresso can cut through, the cappuccinos may be a bit rough or the straight shot a bit too strong. I think as a roaster and former barista, the truth is you can only focus on one portion of the coffee drinking market segment, so choose carefully. Trying to beat Dunkin or Sbux at their own game is a bit foolish when there are so many progressive shops moving into the market that do something completely different and are making bank. Something for the pros to chew on.

Happy Thanksgiving.

It's cold. We will be closed during the holiday and reopen Saturday.

Linnaean St. Espresso

We have been playing around with multiple names for the espresso blends lately. Our stock blend though it has changed was called (Ben K.'s idea), Rudiments. Honestly, we really want to call it elements but we aren't sure how the guys at Supreme are going to play that theme out and don't want to sound overtly similar. Rudiments is the essential basic blend barismo style. Since it is not set, we will come back to it later.

What I decided on with much harumphing from the group is that I want to name the one blend right now that is completely set something personal. We were calling the blend that was 25% CR Las Lajas miel, 10% Kenya Ichimara pb, 65% Brasil Morenihna Formosa screen dried, our 'Barista's Pick.' It's a simple blend highlighted by maple red apple notes mid palate and it just works really well. After playing with a few points on the acidity and mid tone, we settled on one line and percentages. I am changing the name to reflect a static blend called Linnaean St. Espresso even though I am sure there will be mispronunciations because the nonlocals give it a little more effort on the first 'a'.

When I first moved to Cambridge, we lived in a cramped Studio on Gray St. off Linnaean in Cambridge. It was also a block from where I cut my teeth as a barista. Taking a shop from Hazelnut coffee, nameless dark blends in jumbo cups, dull grinders, scalded milk, and ancient equipment with bad training to Estate Coffees and a decent reputation for espresso. That was a long time ago and many battles were fought that I don't care to recount but I will always have an affinity for the people I met, the relationships made, and the support they gave me.

I am now detached from the shop and doing my own thing but I don't forget the uniqueness of that area community. The willingness of the people I met to get personally invested or simply interested still impresses me even today. I grew so much so quickly with the confidence that people believed in us and the directions we were moving. In few other places could I have flourished the way I did. For that being said, the area has a lot of familiar faces and a personal attachment still.