Sammy's Gone...

For those of you who came in to try Sammy Piccolo's Blend, #2 Winner of the World Barista Championship, we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. Last Saturday, we had it on bar 5 days off roast, which we think was perhaps a little under developed. It was very good, and the grapefruit notes were there, however, we were missing some of the caramel sweetness. Today, it was a much different espresso. After 12 days off roast, it was so much sweeter and brighter, and definitely had the snap of the grapefruit, but I could definitely appreciate the caramel notes from the Herbazu. Rich from Aldo came in to try it, and his palate is much more developed than mine, and he said the bottom of the cup had a tamarind sweetness to it, and I couldn't agree with him more...I remembered liking Luke's single origin espresso from his MARBC performance, and Sammy's Blend sort of reminded me of this one a little, but with a little more body as the Yergacheffe in the blend gives it that hhmmpff. ( I'm not sure how you spell this). Both Coffee on their own are remarkable, especially the Organic Yergacheffe Aricha, but 49th Parallel did an exceptional job with this espresso blend. I like it so much, I wish we could have it on bar at all times...This just re enforces my love for bright coffees. The Colombia Timana AA is quite fruity and cherry like, and would have to be my favorite on bar at the moment. I was excited to taste this one as it was our first Colombia from 49th. The El Salvador is also a great coffee, and the way it is processed is also very exceptional as it goes through a few extra steps of sorting to ensure only the "biggest" and best beans are picked.  It's a much bolder coffee than the Colombia and it isn't has bright, which I know some of our customers are probably happy since we've had many bright coffees recently. I'm not sure how long 49th is planning on having it available but we shall all miss you, Sammy. Our Roaster certainly have an amazing ability of blending for espresso, and this is truly a talent. The Epic alone is superb, and 12 days of roast this morning was oohh so sweet, it just keeps getting better...as it sits there..just proves that you shouldn't always believe when they say 7-10 days is best..not for this one, maybe it's our packaging, but when butter meets caramel, with a squeeze of lemon..yum.  If you want to read why 49th Parallel is astonishing...and organoleptic ( new word we learned today)...click here

Comments

[rich]

The thing I notice most when drinking Vince's espresso blends is that they work on a lot of levels. Every sip seems to have a couple of surprises. And even though you're going only going to have maybe 4-5 sips before your demitasse is empty, with each sip the coffee unfolds a little more, offering even more surprises. The first sip is often quite unlike the last. You don't find that quality often (if ever) in a single origin espresso. And whether it's Epic or Sammy's blend, there's so much more than the classic chocolate/caramel blends out there.

Of course, major kudos to you guys for brewing it right. Always enjoy stopping by. Wish we could get up there more often.