Costa Rican - The Coffee Roaster
Welcome to the Espresso Idiot's review of the Coffee Roaster's Costa Rican roast. This is a very tidy little single origin espresso available from the fridge at the Coffee Roaster. The Coffee Roaster is located Sydney, and being near the Green Square train station it is easy to get to, and well worth the trip on the train. The coffee beans are roasted on state of the art machines and well packaged 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. In addition there some helpful tips on the package about how to preserve your coffee and some suggested practises for keeping it fresh. At $8.75 per 250gm packet, this coffee is very reasonably priced and you can afford to experiment.
"This single origin offering from the Coffee Roaster is good enough to enjoy without having to blend it with other beans to round out the flavour. It could be improved, but this one is certainly good enough to enjoy sans blending. Full flavoured, but not overpowering. Delicious"
Espresso Idiot, 5 November 2006.
Summary Information
Overall Score: This was a well roasted single origin espresso, that was good enough to consume without blending. Nice. 8 out of 10.
Packaging: Somewhat unusually these days, the beans at The Coffee Roaster are refridgerated. The plastic packaging with release valve is used to hold your beans, however it is not light proof. Minimal product information on packaging, but there is enough and the tips on coffee storage could be useful. 7 out of 10.
Bean Type: 100% arabica. A single origin bean type is roasted to produce the product. Lightly coloured beans that release a nice aroma in the bag. These beans certainly deliver. 8 out of 10.
Crema: A rich caramel colour tops off the shot. There are obvious oils present and this mixes well with properly texture milk. Very inviting. 8 out of 10.
Aroma: Minimal aroma both in the bag and off the shot. Probably the weakest aspect of this espresso, and if you considering bleding this one, blend it with something aromatic would be my suggestion. 6 out of 10.
Taste: A well rounded meidum bodied espresso with some powerful taste. Not bitterness or sharpness on the palate, except for some residul and pleasant bitterness in the aftertaste. Very good. 8 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 an experience. It is very understated, and could be easily missed if you weren't keeping your eyes peeled. However, with the calibre of coffee they produce, include this single origina roast, it is highly likey that you will be coming back, or ordering online. As yet I have not tried the online ordering service, checking out the roasting equipment and the shop was too high on my list of priorities, so down to the shop I went.
The packaging of the product is done well, using 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 reckons that refridgeration, and then freezing at home is the best option for preserving the coffee. There are tips on the packaging for how to store your coffee, and the staff do provide you with tips on the storage of coffee beans at the point of sale if you need them. In terms of the information on the package about the actual coffee purchased, there is none on this particular coffee. There is good product information on the web site, however there could be a bit more of a description about the coffee you are purchasing in my view.
The beans are single origin, meaning that they come from the one area and the one type of coffee plant. They have not been blended with other beans to produce an espresso that is rounded and, some would say, complete. What is often done is that blending takes place to compliment the features on one bean, by adding some others to account for any shortcomings. It was my intention to try this roast, and then see if I could blend it with some at home, however aside from the armoa, this single origin roast was good enough to drink as is.
The Costa Rican single origin roast produces a wonderfully rich caramel coloured crema. It is evenly coloured, and has an oily sheen as it should. It is thick enought o blend with milk if desired and provides a wonderufl colouring to any milk that is added. The cream is one of the features of this espresso, and lasts the distance on top of the shot.
The beans did not give off much of an aroma to speak of, either in the package, during the brewing process, or off the shot. This is the ewakest aspect of this espresso, and while there was an aroma from the shot, there was nothing really to speak off. It felt almost as if the espresso was lurking in the cup, ready to pounce on my palate and take me by surprise, which it did.
This coffee is best described as medium bodied, howver there are powerful tastes present. One good aspect of the medium bodied nature of the espresso is that none of these tastes are able to overpower the others, and there is none of the sharpness and bitterness that can arise in some of the full bodied powerful espressos that are around. This espresso comes on very smooth to the palate and can safely be savoured in the mouth to experience all of the taste sensations the espresso has to offer. Most of the taste sensations are confined to the sides and rear of the tongue. The aftertaste comes on slowly and produced a lightly bitter taste, but this is not too strong and is not unpleasant.
The Espresso Idiot's overall view of The Coffee Roaster's Costa Rican offering 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 sample as you make the move into single origin beans as it is easily good enough to have on its own, and would be easy to blend with other single origins you might have on hand to produce nicely blended unique espresso to use at home. I will be coming back to this one again, a nice espresso to have on hand, and I will let you know what I blend it with in due course.