Central American, African, Sumatran Spiced with Brazil - The Coffee Roaster
Welcome to the Espresso Idiot's review of the Coffee Roaster's Central American, African, Sumatran Spiced with Brazil. What a mouthful that name is for this coffee, and it struck me that way when I saw it in the fridge at the premises of The Coffee Roaster in Alexandria. I thought, if the coffee is as much of a mouthful as the name, then surely it is worth a try! For the purposes of this review I will call it Central American from here on in. The Coffee Roaster is a bit out of the way, being located in suburban Sydney, however it is near the Green Square train station so it is very easy to get to for thems that want to expand their espresso horizons. The Coffee is well roasted on state of the art machines and well package to survive either the trip home, or the postal voyage to your place. Of course The Coffee Roaster has a web site and you are able to order coffee from them, and other incidental requirements online. At $8.75 per 250gm packet, this coffee is very reasonably priced and you can afford to experiment.
"The Coffee Roaster has good products and helpful service. They have a great range of single origin beans on sale, and a number of blends that you can take home and try. This one stood out from the rest as the name was a real mouthful, and the espresso lived up to the billing. Well rounded, meidum bodied espresso that is good at any time. I will be coming back for this one again" .
Espresso Idiot, 20 October 2006.
Summary Information
Overall Score: This was a well roasted and blended medium body gourmet espresso. Well worth the price of taking some of this home. 7 out of 10.
Packaging: Somewhat unusually these days, the beans at The Coffee Roaster are refridgerated. The preferred plastic packaging with release valve in employed, however light is not completely blocked from the packaging, but this does allow one to view the beans being purcahsed. Minimal product information on packaging, but it is enough. 7 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. 6 out of 10.
Crema: A caramel coloured delight topping the shot evenly and giving the shot great drinking texture, as well as being very appealing on the eye. 7 out of 10.
Aroma: Great aroma in the bag, and when ground. Nice coffee smell when brewing, however it quickly dissipates on the shot. The weakest aspect of this coffee. 6 out of 10.
Taste: A well rounded meidum bodied espresso with distinctive hints of taste on the palate. 7 out of 10.
Web Site: The Coffee Roaster
E-Mail: info@coffee.com.au
Contact Details: Ph: +61-2-9318-0916
Review
The Coffee Roaster's main store in Green Square in Sydney is well worth a visit for any budding or experienced espresso aficiondao that is looking for a good place to go and start to develop those taste buds and build on your appreciation for the dark art of espresso. The shop is understated and was nearly empty when I visited during the day. I was able to have a good look around, check out the roasting, as well as take a good long look at all the product that had on sale. In addition there were helpful staff members that assisted me with making selections of the espresso blends and single origins that were available. It was the name of thsi blend that drew me to it, and it was also reccomended by the store assistant. They did not put me wrong with this one.
The packaging of the product is done well, if what is now really the standard packaging that one expects when it comes to gourmet espresso. The typical plastic airtight package is utilised, complete with gas release valve. Interestingly enough the packaged espresso is kept in a refrigerator presumably to aid in the preservation of the espresso for the consumer. Most places around town do not do this, however The Coffee Roaster does. In addition, the staff do provide you with tips on the storage of espresso at the point of sale if you need them. It is always good to see this extra attention given to the provision of a good product as preservation of espresso beans is a very important aspect to the enjoyment of fine espresso. In terms of the information on the package, there is sufficient, but there is nothing out of the ordinary. There is good product information on the web site, however there could be a bit more of a description about the blends in my view.
This Central American blend has a wonderfully rich caramel coloured crema covering the shot and enhancing the apperance and texture of the shot. It holds together well, lasting until the shot is consumed. If milk is added to the shot to create a flat white or latte, the crema mixes well with the textured milk to retain the colour on top of the milky head of the espresso drink. The crema is one of the better apsect of this blend.
The beans gave off a wonderfully intoxicating armoa from the package and while being brewed. However, off the shot the armoa was not as intense and I was a bit dissapointed by this. I had thought that perhpas this would affect the taste or could indicate that perhpas I had been taken in by something as superficial as a name for a blend! I need not have worried.
The Central American espresso shot is medium bodied from start to finish. It rolls smoothly onto the palate and does not give off any bitter or sharp taste sensations at all. It smoothly holds on to the tongue and the espresso flavour and slight acid bitterness of the shot develops on the tongue without become overly prnounced at any point. There are earthy hints to this espresso, possibly present from the Sumatran or African beans included in the blend and this is a welcome addition to the taste sensation given by this espresso. This is a good blend to have as a straight shot, and one that you could have at any time of day without having to worry about any of the common side effects from espresso. It isn't that strong, is very well blended and develops well on the palate. It mixes well with textured milk drinks, however you do need to make sure that you don't swamp all of the flavour with too much milk.
The Espresso Idiot's overall view of The Coffee Roaster's Central American Blend is that it is an espresso that any gourmet would do well to include on a list of those to be sampled. This is a great espresso to have to add to your knowledge base about espresso, and the blends from the Americas, as well as the African and Sumatran impact on the blend that can be detected by the earthy tastes . I will be coming back to this one again, a nice espresso to have on hand.