The Bourbon Street Gourmet Blend - Campo's
Welcome to the Espresso Idiot's review of the Bourbon Street Gourmet Blend created by Campo's Specialist Coffee Professionals. This outfit has quite a reputation about town, and I was expecting to be impressed. From the moment I arrived I felt like I was in the hands of espresso aficionados and took a punt on this blend as the first to try from the arsenal of espresso proudly displayed behind the counter at Campo's. The name of this espresso conjured up images of New Orleans seedy jazz bars pumping out great tunes and serving equally fine espresso for consumption at all hours of the day and night. It is said to be a blend of Salawasi, Guatemalan and Nicaraguan beans and I was expecting a coffee with punch. Price wise it was within acceptable range for gourmet espresso in Sydney.
"I like everything about Campo's except this coffee. The packaging was inferior, had almost no information about the product, and certainly nothing specific to the beans that I had purchased. The coffee looked wonderful, but on consumption has no substance and only a passing sharp taste on the palate before the bitterness sets in. I would describe this coffee overall as being thin, and I would suggest that any gourmet avoid this espresso" .
Espresso Idiot, 18 October 2006.
Summary Information
Overall Score: For a gourmet espresso blend this was too thin, and lacked any substance. It is below average at best. 4 out of 10.
Packaging: Plastic packaging with no protection of the beans from light. There was no valve to allow for the gas from the beans to escape. There was also no information on the packaging about the product, the name of the blend I had purchased having been written on by hand along the generic sticker presumably attached to all bags sold from Campo's. 2 out of 10.
Bean Type: 100% arabica. Blended imported beans, from Salawasi, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. Creates a good impression, however fails to deliver. The beans did have a splendid look to them, but failed to deliver. 5 out of 10.
Crema: Thick, caramel coloured, even dispersed on the shot, very rich. The highlight of this espresso. 6 out of 10.
Aroma: Almost impreceptible. Slight aroma from the ground beans, almost none from the shot. 2 out of 10.
Taste: An initial sharpness, followed by bitterness, and no body. Thin. 4 out of 10.
E-Mail: WILL@CAMPOSCOFFEE.COM
Contact Details: Ph: +61-2-9516-3361
Review
Campo's Specialty Coffee Professionals is already a legend on the Sydney Espresso scene. The store deep in the heart of Bohemian Newtown, just a few doors from King Street is considered something of a Mecca to espresso lovers in Sydney. Certainly a visit to the store does allow one a good chance to see a coffee operation that is both popular and skilfully operated. As I have said, I was expecting to be impressed and you can see on the Espresso Out section of this site the Espresso Idiot's review of the espresso offered in house by this outfit. However, for this section of the site it is the take home espresso that is under consideration, in this case "Campo's Bourbon Street Gourmet Blend"..
The packaging of the product is done very cheaply. The espresso is simply packaged in plastic sellophane that ahs a generic sticker attached to it with the contact details of Campo's on it, and the name of the blend handwritten on it. There is not other product information other than that. As such, there is very little to reccomend the packaging of Campo's coffee and it could certainly do with some improvement in this regard. There is the chance that the packaging is purposely kept to a minimum so that the price is not increased, however this coffee is at the same price as most other places so that seems not to be to the advantage of the consumer. Presumably not much effort is put into the packaging as it is assumed the buyer will package and store the product immediately on arrival at home. In any event, it ought to be done better by self titled "Specialty Coffee Professionals".
This Bourbon Street Gourmet Espresso Blend has an impressively thick and caramel coloured crema on the shot. The crema has great integirty, lasting well on the top of the shot until the shot is consumed. Any textuyred milk that might be introduced to the drink mixes well with the crema producing well coloured covering for the drink.
The armoa of this espresso blend was the first indication that all was not well with this blend. There was a pleasant armoa given off by the beans, especially once freshly ground just prior to the shot. However, once the shot was prepared there was almost no armoa at all eminating from the shot, or from the machine during the brewing process. This was very disappointing and was one of the least impressive aspects of this coffee, however it was not the only one as I was about to discover.
The Bourbon Street espresso shot once gives a very sharp taste on the tip of the tongue, however this quickly dissipates. As the espresso rolls over and around the tongue, the sharp taste is present all over the palate and is not very nice. Eventually this subsides into the bitter taste associated with espresso, however this grows in intensity before quickly vanishing into a featureless thin taste that is unsatisfying and unpleasant. The espresso lacks any body or any taste other than bitterness and sharpness to speak of. The thin nature of the espresso is the weakest feature, perhpas other than the almost non existant armoa the coffee produces.
The Espresso Idiot's overall view of Campo's Bourbon Street Gourmet Blend is that it is an espresso that any gourmet would do well to avoid. The sharpness and bitterness on the palate is not a welcome experience, nor is the thin taste offered by this espresso lacking in any kind of substance. The unpleasant taste and lack of body in this espresso is foreshadowed by the lack of armoa and gives one fair warning of what is to come. Not one to try and the Espresso Idiot hopes that this is not indicative of the quality of espresso produced by Campo's. If it is I am in for some hard times ahead as I sample some of their other offerings. Check back for updates to this site about Campo's other espressos.