Soma espresso is back

Soma espresso is back in season and we are happy with the components. We have one more component on the way we will add to it as it's ready but we are happy with the silky sweet notes coming out of this coffee right now. Get a bag, have a shot, enjoy.

Our Columbia Meridiano is now available online as an espresso. The Honduras CoE winner, Finca Bu is up as well. Keep an eye on the list as it will change over the next week.

Thoughts on roasting

For the last week, I've been working on a new roasting style. A completely new approach for drip roasts that will work for certain coffees but may not work for others. It has been an intriguing challenge to push these new coffees a little farther and to make them pop.

Sometimes you need a little downtime to get back in experimenting mode. For me, it's been a good week to do that. After a cupping tonight, it looks like a confirmation that this adaptation of other roast profiles will only work for very light roasts, but it works very well for that.

what's interesting is that it came from experimenting on another roaster in a single batch. Having access to another roaster, seeing the drum speed, the physics of the roast, and then taking that back to our roaster.

At first, I had a strong desire to add a modification to get the results, but after a lot of thought, the decision was to push forward with a few tests. After only a few sets, it was apparent I had taken a giant leap int he right direction. The problem with coffee though is that in each set, we needed to wait and watch it age over a few days. So, changing only a variable at a time, I pushed through a few sets in one week cupping as it aged and came to a solid result. Now, the test is to apply variations of this new and aggressive light roast style across several other sets of coffees.

Coffee is great. After all this time, to really find something different on our roaster where we can offer a new style is exceptional. having the refined air controls and RPM controls are both a blessing and a curse. Figuring out exactly what each does often means a bit of confusion followed by either a eureka moment or more potential variants.

So the general idea is we are going to have some nice light roasts coming to the shelf with our next few offerings. Just in time for some fairly expensive coffees too!

Cold brew coffee tasting this Sun Aug 29th, 12-1pm!!!

Since we have a little Boston Globe coverage on cold brew coffee culture growing in Boston, we thought it would be a great idea to give those who have never had a chance to taste our style of cold brew a free option. Come by this weekend for a free sampling Sun around noon.

The Globe also has coverage of our cold brew recipe. For our coffees and the style we serve in shop, the real game changing difference is the throw weight. That is a fancy way of saying we use a hefty dose of coffee to water ratio. When you use a proper dose at a grind that isn't too coarse with good coffees (not french roast!) the flavors are so complex, layered, and vivid but smooth. The texture is viscous, weighty, and pleasant. We like to enjoy it in small servings over ice, undiluted.

Not all cold brew is the same though. Traditionally, toddy has been widely served but it's often french roasted coarsely ground concentrate that is strong needs to be diluted with a fair amount of water. Something to think about when samples the many variations.

On another note, check out this article the NYT has on coffee bars, we get a passing mention as one of them.