Ah ha!
Bean: Vivace Dolce Decaf
Degree: Southern Italian Roast
Roast Age: 6 days old
Gaggia Espresso given a 5 cycle flush/warmup, Bodum Pavina thoroughly warmed, and sitting in a hot bath. There were patches of oil on the surface of the bean. Espresso Vivace recommends that cofee beans should be roasted to a Northern Italian roast, to maintain the oils within the beans, and not the Southern way, where beans are already seeping to the surface. Being the noob, I still can’t seem to get the Northern Italian roast right.
The pour was great, another 22 second pour, with very dark brown striping. Full of crema, as usual, I like the design of the Bodum Pavina, as it lets me see just how much crema I get with every glass. This pour started out with 80% crema, and then it slowly subsided to about a centimeter’s worth.
Ever since I learned from a fellow Coffee Greens SG (CGSG) member the correct way to tamp, it has made all the difference. Well, he learned it from David Schomer’s book. David Schomer is the owner of Espresso Vivace, Seattle. His book, Espresso Coffee: Updated Professional Techiniques, gives a wealth of knowledge on espresso making. Interesting to note is how he nit-picks on every single variable in his environment to make the perfect espresso. Eg. he talks about every time some customer uses his establishment’s toilets, there would be a change in water pressure. A time when the sea breeze blew around his coffee cart, he had to make drastic changes to his grinder setting. If you think Monk is OCD, you’ve just met Mr OCD in Espresso. A friend of mine in Seattle - Cavin insists there’s no good coffee shop there. A bowling ball should drop on his head. Before that thought, my heartfelt congratulations to him for getting wifey Jessica preggers.
2nd pour was made up of “leftovers,” a bit of Dolce and Oaxaca, one half of Dolce Decaf make the pour interesting. A slower pour than the first, excellent tiger-striping, I ended it around 25 seconds, I removed the Pavina, but kept the water running, it gave another good 4 seconds before blonding. The taste was fruity, bittersweet, a floral aftertaste like Yirgacheffe. Interesting because I’ve never tasted floral notes in Oaxaca before. It can’t be the Dolce. Ah well, it’s all in the blend. For record purposes, it was 50% Decaf Dolce, 15% Dolce, and 35% Oaxaca. I recorded the taste after the espresso has cooled off. That’s maybe it.
Another CGSGer KS basically told me he prefers Americanos. Cafe Americano is essentially espresso diluted with water. Before meeting KS, I would not think of diluting espresso with anything, not even milk. But after I tasted my first Yirgacheffe Americano, I was hooked. The added water helped to bring out the floral notes of the coffee to the not-so discerning drinker, like me for example (at the time.) KS says that it is how he introduces coffee to other beginners. (Woe is me.) I pulled another Yirgacheffe, and drank it neat, it had floral notes, but I was not able (at the time) to isolate the floral notes from the overall full spectrum of tastes from the Yirgacheffe. And I feel also the temperature affects the tastebuds. When the drink is hot, I am not able to discern the taste as much as when it cools. I’ve read during cupping sessions, they test the coffee when it’s cooled down. Now I know why.
You learn something everyday.