I recently received a few pounds of the Epic blend, which is now 7 days from roast. I froze all but 1lb of it in my deep-freeze a few days ago, and I have worked my way through a substantial portion of the first pound. So far I am finding it to be a tricky blend to get right. I have tried it at a variety of doses and temps, and I am now looking for some pointers on dose, temp, and volume from those who may have been fortunate enough to dial in this blend.
I started at 15gm and 91 degrees C, which was way off balance. I tried going down in both dose and temp, as far as to 13gm. At that dose it was very sweet, but missing depth. The most luck I had was at 16gm, 92C, and a fairly tight pour, which alluded to a lovely combination of sweetness, acidity, and velvet texture, but I still feel like there is a lot more in this blend that I am missing. It also tastes like it may still be too young, but at 7 days post-roast, is that possible?
At this point I would really appreciate some suggestions.
fullbodied Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 16 Location: New Westminster Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Silvia Grinder: Mini Mazzer
Posted Sat May 5, 2007, 6:04am Subject: Re: 49th Parallel Roasters: Epic Espresso Blend
The good people at 49th told me to use the following:
-In a double basket around 19-20 grams -tamped on the heavy side -pump pressure just below 9 bars - grouphead temp of around 200 degrees. - pour about just under 2 oz in around 25-27 seconds.
When I used these parameters the coffee was spectacular. Fullbodied, very sweet and full of caramel and cocao.
Good luck. If you're not having any luck give them a call. They are really helpful
P.S. Someone in their office pointed me to www.youtube.com where Vince shows Grumpy how they dose. I think the search name was "Grumpy Vince" check it out, ...very helpful.
MarkPrince Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 4,653 Location: Vancouver Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Frankenstein'ed LM Linea Grinder: Anfim Super Caimano Vac Pot: 1922 Silex Drip: Krups Moka Brew Roaster: Hottop
Posted Sun May 6, 2007, 12:34am Subject: Re: 49th Parallel Roasters: Epic Espresso Blend
Epic is pouring spectacular for me at around 199F to 201F on the Frankenstein'ed liva.
On the Silvia, it performs well after a boiler cycle, and about a 4 second "flush". It's just a pristine coffee. I can't believe how far 49th has come in just under 1.5 years of roasting. Something for Vancouver to be very proud of.
They pulled a stellar shot of it at the convention last week but their cups were even more phenomenal. A great logo and a great color blue on extra thick cups.
Thanks for the advice, and for the link to the video.
This coffee seems to benefit from high dosing, and while I don't have a double basket that can accommodate 19gms, I have been dosing the Epic blend at 17 - 17.5gm in my Expobar double basket with great success.
The Epic Organic is also a really good blend. I find that the Epic is best in my pump machine, where the creaminess and broad range of the blend shine, and that the Epic Organic has a beautifully round, soft character in the spring lever.
Just saw that vid. Epic does indeed taste awesome poured that way. But I also talked to Vince about how versatile the blend was, because I'm dosing 17g into a 14g (misnomer) Synesso basket, pulling 50mls-55mls in about 28-30 seconds, and while the cup characteristics are different, the taste is still awesome.
Using the same grinder (with the same mod) as Vince shows in that vid. The dosing and distribution of the Anfim is awesome. But I don't compact like he does. It's dose, straight to tamping - no hands touching the coffee.
fullbodied Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 16 Location: New Westminster Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Silvia Grinder: Mini Mazzer
Posted Sun May 20, 2007, 8:28pm Subject: Re: 49th Parallel Roasters: Epic Espresso Blend
I was trying the 49th Parallel Organic espresso today at home and I've never had this much cocao in an espresso before. It was really sweet! One of the best espresso's I've ever had ( organic or not). The Epic is a much different espresso but it's nice to know they offer 2 great espresso's.
I'm dosing 17g into a 14g (misnomer) Synesso basket, pulling 50mls-55mls in about 28-30 seconds, and while the cup characteristics are different, the taste is still awesome.
I get incredible marzipan notes from this dose and volume!
If anyone east of the Great Divide is interested, I ordered 5lbs (3lb Epic and 2lb Organic) from 49th, which I received on day 7 post-roast via Fedex. I froze 4lbs in the deep-freeze, pulling a lb out as needed. The coffee showed excellent crema and still had fruit notes on days 5-6 out of the freezer, so freshness did not seem to be an issue using these timelines and freezing. Total cost for the 5lb delivered was $90; at $18 per lb, that makes it $2-$3 more per lb than my local stuff (also delivered), which I would say is well worth the small premium.
These coffees are also real lookers. The crema has gorgeous colour and flecking. I suspect that I will be making regular monthly orders for a while.
Hi all, I'm a great Black Cat lover and was just wondering how these would taste in comparison. I don't have a very sophisticated palate but do know what I like when I taste it. As Jon would say; They sound so yummy. So if you guys are familiar with the Black Cat maybe you could clue me in.
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