rstevens Senior Member Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 23 Location: Albany, NY Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: La Spaziale S1 Vivaldi II Grinder: Mazzer Mini-E Drip: nope- French press Roaster: Behmor 1600
Posted Fri Sep 8, 2006, 6:03pm Subject: Black Pearl espresso from ChrisCoffee
I recently received a pound of a new espresso blend from Chris Coffee, Black Pearl. I am lucky to live only a few miles from his shop so I end up there on a regular basis picking up accessories etc. A few weeks ago they mentioned they were getting into the roasting business and I was even shown the new roaster. The folks at Chris Coffee are very friendly and they took the time to explain about the process and how they have enlisted the help from Mane Alves, a world renown coffee expert (http://www.coffeelab.com/level.itml/icOid/5) to get the roast and blend just right. The set up Chris has in place for roasting coffee is impessive to say the least. I am very new to espresso so I am not going to pretend to post a tasting review here but to my taste I really like the new blend. The blend has tons of dark chocolate flavors with a hint of caramel and all the crema a person could ask for. I enjoy this with cappas as well as straight espresso. Looks to me like Chris pulled out all the stops on this one and at least for me ...no need to mail order from speciality roasters 1/2 way across the country anymore :). I would be interested in what others think of this Click Here (www.chriscoffee.com)
rstevens Senior Member Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 23 Location: Albany, NY Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: La Spaziale S1 Vivaldi II Grinder: Mazzer Mini-E Drip: nope- French press Roaster: Behmor 1600
Posted Sat Sep 9, 2006, 3:39am Subject: Re: Black Pearl espresso from ChrisCoffee
Home roasting eh? I've been thinking I may try that sometime. Do you find you are able to home roast an espresso blend as good as the pros? I saw the machine Chris has ...full PID computer controlled with some sort of machine which can gauge the "shade" or color of the roast to insure a consistant result....quite amazing. I looked at the iRoast 2 machine ond the Zach and Dani units which I thought would be fine for SO batches (for French press say) but how do you use these to get that "special espresso" blend? I can't imagine you could roast the differnt beans at the same time can you...or must you roast them seperately and mix after? Does sound very interesting though...
RapidCoffee Senior Member Joined: 4 Dec 2004 Posts: 1,812 Location: Rapid City, SD Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: La Spaziale S1 Grinder: Mazzer Robur, Mazzer Major,... Vac Pot: Yama, also French press Drip: misc. filters, AeroPress Roaster: AeroRost, FreshRoast, SC/CO,...
Posted Sat Sep 9, 2006, 12:52pm Subject: Re: Black Pearl espresso from ChrisCoffee
rstevens Said:
Home roasting eh? I've been thinking I may try that sometime. Do you find you are able to home roast an espresso blend as good as the pros? I saw the machine Chris has ...full PID computer controlled with some sort of machine which can gauge the "shade" or color of the roast to insure a consistant result....quite amazing. I looked at the iRoast 2 machine ond the Zach and Dani units which I thought would be fine for SO batches (for French press say) but how do you use these to get that "special espresso" blend? I can't imagine you could roast the differnt beans at the same time can you...or must you roast them seperately and mix after? Does sound very interesting though...
Home roasting as good as the pros? Please don't ask me to go there! :-) Suffice to say that home roasting is probably responsible for the biggest improvement in my personal coffee odyssey. I put it in the same category as baking bread. Sure, there might be a few truly exceptional bakeries with special ovens that make better bread than you can at home. But practically anything fresh out of the oven will taste wonderful, far better than standard supermarket bakery fare. So it is with home roasting. The freshness of the roast and the quality of the green beans guarantee better results than the vast majority of commercial products. Don't get me wrong: I enjoyed the Black Pearl. But I like my home roasts as much or more. I'd say that about all the commercial roasts that I've sampled.
If you're interested in home roasting, perhaps the best place to start is Sweet Maria's. There's a good page on blending basics here. Yes, you can roast different beans together. It's more convenient, but offers less control than roasting separately. I do both, depending on my mood and available time.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread...
Posted Mon Sep 11, 2006, 12:27pm Subject: Re: Black Pearl espresso from ChrisCoffee
I just sampled some of this blend about two weeks ago. We keep a log of everything that we sample so that the staff can compare notes. Here is what I noted on Black Pearl:
"It seemed to do best after 4-5 days of de-gassing, and it is still behaving well at day eight. It was pleasently complex, with good body (med/full) and mouthfeel. Experimented with extraction temperatures between 201 and 203.5, and found that the blend was fairly forgiving at all temps in this range. Lower temps seemed to emphasize some of the citrus (orange/lemon) notes in the blend. Higher temps (203.5) reduced the citrus notes and introduced a more winey flavor to the cup. These flavors seemed to be balanced by hints of dry cocoa in the finish. Preferred the results at 203-203.5, Initial impression was somewhat bright with fruit and wine, and the cocoa notes came on towards the end of the cup. The wine and cocoa lingered around on my palate for several minutes.... nice finish. The blend also did well with milk. The flavors seemed to be a bit softer and sweeter with out getting lost. Very nice in a macchiatto."
Look forward to tasting it again... Kudos Chris...
Posted Mon Sep 11, 2006, 7:02pm Subject: Re: Black Pearl espresso from ChrisCoffee
I received a pound of the Black Pearl from Chris Coffee. It sat for about three days before my wife and I had time to give it a try. I prepared it as an Espresso, 6 oz Cap and 2 x4 Americano, we enjoyed each preparation. I found it to have a full body and a nice Carmel finish a touch of spice and a lingering chocolate aftertaste. The Crema was thick, chestnut in color and very persistent. I am a home roaster and drink mostly SO Espresso but I do have a blend that I do enjoy (just to lazy to roast and blend it). I gave half of the Espresso to a friend (home roaster as well) who also found it to be better then the espresso we purchase from our local roaster.
Posted Mon Sep 11, 2006, 7:17pm Subject: Re: Black Pearl espresso from ChrisCoffee
I also was fortunate enough to receive a pound for tasting, and Chris asked me to post an opinion about Black Pearl.
I found this blend to be quite "refined" and very tasty. I got the best results brewing at around 199F, using about 17.5 grams in a LaMarzocco double basket. I don't know what the roast date was, but the flavor peaked for me 4 or 5 days after I received it.
Black Pearl seemed rather "high-toned," rather than rich or earthy. This was refreshing, and probably pretty difficult to pull off.
Some of the flavors I tasted were almond, fruit, bitter chocolate and, believe it or not, artichoke! I don't remember tasting artichoke in coffee before, but there's always a first time. And I liked the taste!
Overall this espresso was very nice and I'd be pleased to order it from time to time. If I could wish for a minor tweak, I'd like a bit more sweetness. Of course, tastes vary. and others more skilled than I might have been able to extract more sweetness where I did not.
I think Chris is off to a great start with Black Pearl and it holds up very well compared to many of the well-known specialty blends.
-Andy S picture page: http://flickr.com/photos/andy_s/sets/
jim_schulman Senior Member Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 3,772 Location: Chicago Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Mon Sep 11, 2006, 8:17pm Subject: Re: Black Pearl espresso from ChrisCoffee
AndyS Said:
Black Pearl seemed rather "high-toned," rather than rich or earthy. This was refreshing, and probably pretty difficult to pull off.
Some of the flavors I tasted were almond, fruit, bitter chocolate and, believe it or not, artichoke! I don't remember tasting artichoke in coffee before, but there's always a first time. And I liked the taste.
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