Roasting Single Origin for espresso?

[Alun_evans]

Hey Ron, sorry I had to read back over what I had written because not only had I confused you, but also myself!! :grin: Actually what I was refering to was a situation where a cafe has an espresso blend and also runs a grinder for SOS. The espresso blend, being a blend of different beans, normally requires very little up/down adjustment to the grind during the day. HOWEVER SOS will require much more adjustment as a shot using Java Estate will grind and pull differently from a higher altitude Irian bean- even with the beans having a similar roast. The actually difference in grind between the espresso blend and SOS may not be huge...but any difference in espresso is a big difference as we all know! I guess my point was I recommend having two grinders...but then if you have decafe you may end up having 3 grinders set up!!! MAzzer Luigi does not sponsor btw- :wink:

 

[pstam]

Hi Alun,

Recently I heard of something about "wqhite coffee", roasted in Malaysia, mixed with many of flavours. It was said that the name of "white coffee" comes from its toasting method or similar. Do you ever hear anything about it, because I suppose that you may know more about that country and their coffee markets?

If not, it does not matter.


Peter

 

[ron45]

Thanks for the reply. I was asking in reference to using it as a single source espresso. I liked the flavor as an espresso. Wouldn't the same hold true re the relative coursness of the grind?

Ron

 

[Alun_evans]

Hey Ron. Yes an espresso, even a SOS espresso, should still follow the espresso parameters- extraction time, volume, extraction pressure etc. The only difference is you are grinding one single origin bean, rather than a blend of 3, 4, 5 beans! Therefore the grind will need to be changed for between a SOS and an espresso blend grind. THe change will probably be minute (very little) so its not a big deal. I do agree with you...Single Origin shots are wonderful. There was recently a very interesting article in the Australian Cafe Magazine. It recommended overloading SOS to get a real purity of the origin in the cup. I am a traditionalist but tried it...beautiful cup indeed.

 

[ron45]

Hi Alun, I'm new enough to all this to be a little unsure of what you mean by overloading. I'd take it to mean making a shot with a larger amount of coffee but there isn't usually much room left after tamping a double shot. You could however put less water thru the sieve. When you have time can you clear this up for me please.

Ron

 

[Alun_evans]

Hello Ron, no worries. He is a link to the article. It is from teh Australian Cafe Culture magazine. http://www.thecreativehouse.com/extraction.pdf

 

[ron45]

Thanks amigo, the lilttle graphic on your posts looks like the valley that they flew into at the end of Blade Runner [ director's cut ] Except for that shot I liked the origonal much better. The narative over the movie is part of what makes a good Noir film for my tastes.

Ron

 

[SL28ave]

Hi Alun, I noticed you made reference to the grind being important in single source espresso. How does it differ from what one would use in a blend. I got introduce to single source by a fortunate error. Someone brought me some beans they said were espresso which were a nice brown color and I loved it. Turns out it's a Brazilian coffe, Baggio Estate Platinum. Someone on this list found the web site for me and I plan to get some more. I want to get the most out of it so would you go coarser or finer than normal? [ if there is such a thing ]

If it is arabica, suggest to grind coarsely and brewed by drip coffee. Using espresso machine may kill most of its flavours and tastes.

Do espresso machines KILL most of Arabica coffee's flavours and tastes? You also use the word "may" instead of "will". So an explorer would go against your "drip" suggestion and see if an espresso machine "will" kill most of its flavors.

To me, Arabica is most pleasant. I wouldn't dilute it with a non-arabica punch. It needs to be Arabica of the CURRENT HIGHEST quality though. It's at least what my palate and mind desires.

 

[Alun_evans]

I certainly would not say espresso extraction "kills" the characteristics in a good arabica based blend at all. On the contrary, a well blended, well roasted arabica espresso blend is designed to cup with a wide range of aromas and flavours that only the espresso machine can extract from the beans. French press the same coffee, with a coarser grind, and you are going to find it cups very differently. Most roasters roast beans destined for espresso blends a certain way. I would definatley say the Java I use in espresso and the Java I sell for use in plungers/french press are very different due to the way I have roasted them.

 

[wwcove]

How do you roast different for each type? Surely it is not a matter of the darkness of roast?

 

[signsny]

Green Mountain coffee is the best.

Abie