Coffeestork

Roaster: Square Mile Coffee
From Where I Got It: Direct from roaster

Review

As many other Toronto coffee lovers, I had the chance to first taste a shot of Square Mile Red Brick during their European Espresso Throwdown last month at Te Aro Roasted. This was a great social event, but for me it was a bit of a challenge developing thoughts about the espresso. Given the paper cups and the challenges that the baristas faced in pulling so many shots, I was not able to really form an opinion as I would have liked. In any case, my interest remained in trying out this espresso blend given the initial tasting, as well as the general Square Mile reputation. Given James Hoffman’s many accomplishments including former World Barista Champion and his thought leadership in specialty coffee, I had certain biases and anticipations for this coffee.

In short, it delivered. When I first read the label, I was a bit perplexed how the coffee would taste. By clearly labeling the component coffees and their percentages, along with taste descriptors for each component, the bag ended up with nearly 15 taste descriptors. It was interesting tasting the end result which had some of these descriptors easily emerge, while others melded, and others emerged very subtly during sips. The components for this iteration were 50% Brazilian from Fazienda Sertao, and two Colombians from Samaniega and La Serrania. Given the descriptors, my assumption was that the overall base of nutty dark chocolate, and buttery mouthfeel came from the Brazilian, while the tropical fruits liveliness came from the Colombian. Overall the biggest surprise for me was how clean and crisp this coffee tasted. No earthy or woody notes ever appeared.

Ordering

I was a little hesitant in ordering the coffee, as there was no shipping time estimated, and spending $23 for 12 ounces of coffee (including shipping) was a bit of a gamble. The coffee arrived 10 days after roasted and was packed in a sealed bag with a one way valve. Not sure of any flushing of the bag. I managed to finish the bag in 5 days as I was loving the coffee, so freshness was not a huge issue for me.

Brew Parameters
In the past, I have found coffees from the leading European roasters to have quite tight band of parameters to achieve pleasant results. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised that this blend seemed to be a bit more forgiving, although the prescribed parameters seemed to always produce superior results. When I pulled a tighter ratio, sweetness increased, but it introduced a subtle bitter sharpness that was not preferable. I also experimented with lowering the temperature below 200 degrees, but the acidity became slightly sharper. In the end, I really liked the prescribed parameters: 18.5 grams dry, 201 degrees Fahrenheit for 29 gram cup in 28 seconds.

Espresso: A+

When you first meet this coffee on the nose, it lets you know that it is something different with strong tropical fruit on a nutty background. Pleasant and unique. On first sip a refreshing crispness dominates from a deep tart cranberry fruitiness layered with other sweet tropical fruit. This is well balanced with the sweet fruitiness. The body seems deceptively light at first flowing, but a lingering caramel buttery creaminess emerges as deep chocolate and molasses notes produce a refreshing sweet medium finish. Yes, I say sweet quite bit.

Cappuccino: A

Surprisingly assertive with sweet caramel nuttiness intermingling with tropical sweetness on a strong dark chocolate background. Great balance and flavors.

Conclusion

Favorite espresso blend that I tried so far this year. The clean taste of this coffee along with its complexity makes it a quick favorite for me. Combine it with juicy crispiness from the well-balanced acidity, and I had my mouth craving for more. Many have recommended for me to try this coffee, and you can be sure that I will be ordering more, or picking some up if they have some at Café Myriade when I visit Montreal.

Tags: Blend, Espresso Bean, London, Red Brick, Square Mile Coffee, UK

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Although I am not a frequent watcher of the Iron Chef television show, there can be no denying that the show has had success in attracting an audience as one of the longest lasting Food Network shows. Looking at the format, we see that there is head-to-head competition, ingredients are a surprise requiring chefs to improvise relying on their skills, and the judging comments are immediate and transparent. Compare this to barista competitions where ingredients are preset, routines are preset, and the judging results are not openly presented to the public. Can something be learnt? Bear with me for my ideas and comments.

Having recently enjoyed reading Jim’s post on changing barista competition format, I thought to share my thoughts and ideas. As a consumer / home barista, I appreciate the tremendous hard work and skill required for the competitors, but I have never found it engaging. For me there seems to be a tremendous emphasis on a rehearsed presentation of the coffee and waxing poetically about it. Something that might connect for some, but definitely not all. For me, the idea that so much of it is a rehearsed routine takes away from the spontaneity and perception of skill testing.

For me, the competition should be about barista abilities and testing them in a spontaneous fashion. For me these abilities include:
1) Tasting coffee and identifying qualities in a blind manner
2) Efficiently setting up equipment and preparing coffee using a variety of brew methods
3) Presenting and describing a coffee’s taste

So what format would do this? Let’s look at the Iron Chef for some potential ideas:

• Three stations would be set up: one for espresso, one for free form signature drinks, and one for a random brew method.
  
• Three competitors go at the same time each starting at different station.
  
• Before starting, all the competitors start by having to blindly choose three coffees from ten different samples through a cupping.
  
• Competitors than use a different coffee at each of the three stations to prepare a drink.
  
• After each station, the drinks are presented to the judges on a qualitative basis with blind descriptions of the coffee and perhaps guesses as to the origin.
  
• Judges provide immediate feedback on the drinks and reveal the true origin and roaster of the coffee at the end of the round
  

Large departure from the current format? Not really. Biggest change is that the routines aren’t rehearsed. De-emphasizes the roaster-centric model that drives the competitions. Will we ever see this? Probably not, but thought I would put it out there nonetheless.

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Roaster: Terroir Coffee Company
From Where It Was Received: Direct from roaster

Overview of the George Howell Coffee Company

For specialty coffee companies today, practices around direct trade that highlight the origin and uniqueness of coffees are common, but this hasn’t always been so. When I first heard of the Terroir coffee line by the George Howell Coffee Company(GHCC), it was the first time that I heard such focus and dedication by a roaster to highlight detailed origin and its the importance to creating a differentiated taste experience that should be celebrated.

Since that first introduction to the golden bags of Terroir, I have been treated a few times to their different coffees as friends have indulged my requests for their coffee when visiting Boston. Thankfully for my friends, Mercury Espresso has switched to them for the last year, and I have enjoyed quite a few of their coffees. After contacting GHCC, I was glad that they offered to be part of my reviews. One of my my favorite coffees from them has been the Konga Coop, but before going into it, please let me first highlight some aspects that make this roaster unique.

Along with the core belief that coffees should be highlighted for their uniqueness originating from where they are grown, the thing that stuck in my mind about GHCC were the joint educational and research programs that they have been instrumental in launching that touch all the different points in the chain of producing better specialty coffee. To highlight a few:

• Cup of Excellence: Most are aware that George Howell was a co-founder of this program that to promote exemplary coffees directly sourced from growers, and has helped create direct communications between roasters and growers working to improve the quality of coffee at the farming level.
  
• Green bean packaging and preservation: GHCC was one of the first to recognize the importance of green bean packaging at source to preserve bean freshness and not damaging taste. GHCC also uses freezing of green beans to be able to offer coffees year round, although they may be coming from one growing season. By freezing, degradation of the green bean is dramatically slowed, allowing for roasting of the beans many months later.
  
• Refraction Measurement: by working with the VST founder, George Howell was an advisor during the development of the Extract Mojo to provide cost-effective extraction measurement through refractory. This has lead to better cup consistency through the measurement.
  
• Education: When I read through the GHCC web sitw, the things that strikes me is the detailed comprehensiveness of information that is provided beginning from information on varietals and their characteristics, all the way to different aspects of roasted coffee and extraction. This belief in providing education in the coffee industry, I believe, is a great long-term strategy in providing quality in the cup that serves as a solid differentiator for the entire specialty coffee industry.
  

Coffee Overview

Although I have been veering away from single origin espressos, one of my favorite single origin espressos from the past year has been a single origin washed Ethiopian from the Konga Coop, roasted by Terroir. This coffee has some great attributes in terms of clarity and sweetness, and perhaps more uniquely for a single origin, complexity. As a change up, I have been experimenting with different brew methods besides espresso, and Terroir offers this coffee in two different roast profiles (full flavor and espresso) so I thought it would be a good coffee to profile for differing brew methods.

In the last couple of months, I’ve been playing with a few different brew methods. Although the initial push came from the desire to drink coffee at work and the lack of an espresso machine, I am finding situations at home where I am missing alternative brew methods at home. The longer cup allows a prolonged drinking enjoyment to discern nuances and subtleties, along with the simplicity of the method to create repeatable results. Aeropress has been the brew method that I’ve been tending to use quite often accompanied with a Hario Skerton.

Aeropress Method 1

Using a fine grind setting, 17 grams of coffee, 210 grams of water, 190 degree water, 1 minute submersion time, 30 second press.

This method produces tea like notes that intertwine with sweet lemon on the nose. A light lemony acidity awakens the taste bud on first sips, overlapping with bergamot and dark chocolate that finishes with light vanilla and lingering caramel sweetness.

Aeropress Method 2
Using slightly coarser grind than previous method (one coarser on the Hario Skerton), 18 grams of coffee, 210 grams of water, 200 degree water, 1 minute submersion, 30 second press.

With this technique, the nose is still lemony but more stone fruit scents appear. Softer lemon acidity appears balanced by apricot sweetness and spicy ginger vanilla finishing in a dark chocolate finish.

Espresso Parameters

GHCC recommends 19 grams in for 30 grams of liquid out at 197 degrees. Using, these parameters, I found the nose of the cup to be very tea like with lemony bergamot notes which persisted into a balanced cup with subtle layers of stone fruit, vanilla, and tea acidity with hints of chocolate. Based on my taste and what I had tasted at Mercury, I went a little tighter and started pulling only about 25 grams out. This produced less tea notes, but brought out more dark chocolate, apricot sweetness, and ginger spiciness at the end of the shot. This was my preference.

Espresso: A

Floral tea like nose that has vanilla intertwining with chocolate. Sweet lemon acidity flow with apricot sweetness changing to subtle dark chocolate layered with almond hints finishing with vanilla and ginger spiciness and a medium cocoa aftertaste. Beautiful balance and complexity for a single origin.

Cappuccino: A

Toasted almond, vanilla, caramel and hint of chocolate mix in a subtle, yet interesting cup that has pleasant smooth sweetness.

Conclusion

This is one of my favorite single origin espressos from the past year as it has great attributes in terms of clarity and sweetness, and perhaps more uniquely for a single origin, complexity. The same plethora of great flavors also came through in the full flavor roast on the Aeropress.

Tags: Ethiopian, Single Origin, Terroir Coffee

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Roaster: PT’s Coffee Roasting
From Where It Was Received: Direct from roaster

Review
Geographically, specialty coffee in the United States has always been centered in the Pacific Northwest as the café market started in this area. As the market became crowded and expertise moved to other parts of the country, specialty roasters have tended to concentrate in other urban centers such as San Francisco, New York, and more recently Los Angeles. Occasionally, roasters have chosen smaller markets to serve. PT’s Coffee Roasting is one of the bigger specialty roasters in the American Midwest that has been around for almost two decades as it has grown from a small cafe open primarily as a hobby, to a larger size specialty roaster. I mention the size, as volume translates to economic ability to source coffee directly in distinctive micro lots, instead of relying on wholesale importers. PT’s credits this size that is not too small, not too big, as an important factor in being able to offer distinctive coffees.

Recently, I had the pleasure of trying several interesting blends and single origins coffees. Out of these coffees, the espresso that I seemed to be often coming back to was a Colombian from Finca Villa Loyola of the Caturra varietal.

Brew Parameters
For me, sweetness highlighting stone fruit was definitely a highlight for this coffee and this really came out when pulling it short. With this style, the compromise is less complexity as the other subtleties like the vanilla and citrus acidity are overshadowed. For this reason, I was actually pulling 19 grams in, for 30 grams out in 30 seconds. I seemed to settle for a balanced temperature around 199 F as the acidity seemed balanced.

Espresso: A
On the nose a sugary vanilla with hints of walnuts precursors this sweet coffee. On the first sip, light sweet citrus opens up followed by sweet peach and apricot notes with traces of nuts, while the light acidity remains present to give a nice juiciness. Finishing the shot remains sweet but has a caramel depth and vanilla spiciness in a medium finish.

Conclusions
This coffee is an easy winner for those who like fruity sweetness and clean juiciness. As I pulled it longer, I enjoyed the different layers of spiciness and nuts that began appearing.

Tags: Colombian, PT's Coffee Roasting, Single Origin

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One of last year’s most anticipated espresso machine launches was the Breville Dual Boiler as has been covered and discussed in the home barista community. Although Breville had some espresso machine products, they were never heavy contenders in the serious home barista community. A very serious research and design effort has very much changed this, and made this machine a serious consideration for baristas looking for machines in the $1000 to $3000 range, although the machine is priced at the $1300 level.

My Viewpoint
Before getting into many details, let me give you my home machine experience. I first owned a Rancilio Silvia for 5 years, and I now own a Rocket Giotto Premium Plus for the last 2 years. The Giotto is an excellent HX machine with good thermal stability and steaming power. As I’ve installed a group head thermometer, my temperature control has much improved, and with some flushing and attention to temperature, I pull some great tasting shots. Overall the machine is great, although there is room for improvements for temperature control, as I sometimes wish I could set the temperature and go without all the flushing routine.

The Question and Conclusion

Having read the first look review and some of the forum chatter, I was curious to check out this machine hands on. Is this the real deal? Would I seriously consider this machine if I had a budget of up to 3000? After 3 hours with the machine, the answer is “Yes”.

The Testing

I spoke to the Williams-Sonoma store in Toronto’s Eaton Centre, and they generously offered to let me give it a whirl along with some coffee friends. To really try it’s shot quality, we decided to use a grinder we were familiar with, the Baratza Vario, and some great coffee that we were familiar with, 49th Parallel’s Epic Espresso, which Williams-Somoma also carries and was generously sponsored by the roaster.

With everything set, we were excited to try the machine, and we spent a good 3 hours looking at details and tasting shots. Although this is by no means supposed to be a conclusive look at the machine, I wanted to give you some thoughts including the good, the could be improved, and the needs further investigation.

The Good

• Overall Shot Quality: Although it took us a bit to really pull shots in the parameter range that we wanted, when we did, we had some very nice tasting shots of Epic espresso. My general impressions were that the aromatics seemed to really come out clearly accentuated on the nose, in this iteration of Epic they reminded me of baking sugar pie with a really pronounced cinnamon. The taste also seemed very clean, and seemed to have very nice clarity highlighting beautiful light citrus acidity and delicious sweet caramel that finished in the typical sweet long aftertaste that typifies Epic for me.

• Steaming: The ease of milk steaming was amazing in that I created beautiful microfoam very easily with the machine. With more practice, it seems like you could produce easily produce café level micro foam. It seemed to vastly outperform my Giotto in this category.

  

• Temperature Control and Recovery: Although we didn’t have any tools to measure accuracy, we had the impression that we could easily adjust temperature and that the machine would accurately maintain it through multiple consecutive shots with minimal recovery time. Again outperforming the Giotto.
  
• Fully Featured: Many details on the machine are well thought out and implemented including things like timer for automatic machine turn on, programmable pre-infusion, in-tank filtration system, and tools included to dismantle the group head screen for cleaning.
  

• Interoperability with other machines: the size and shape of the portafilter and basket are slightly different than standard E61 group head making swapping parts impossible. For example, my 18 gram VST basket seemed not to fit, perhaps because I was too timid on the very tight fit. The threading on the steaming wand tip seemed different than standard.

• Aesthetic: obviously this is a very personal area of preference. Most impressions that I heard were that it looked like other Breville machines, except bigger. My impression was of a tame transitional style that was non-offensive and that would fit in almost any kitchen. Certainly, it is not as polarizing as a Kees van der Westen machine which has a strong design aesthetic.
  

Remaining Questions

• Grouphead Pressure: In the centre of the machine was the bar pressure reading from the group head. Depending on the grind and dose, we saw some significant variance in the pressure ranging from around 10 bar to around 15 bar. We got the impression that this gauge might be helpful for dialing in the grind, but also had the impression that the pressure might be set to high by default. This impression also came from the fact that we read about the machine’s OPV being set at too high of a level and which apparently occurred on the initial batch of machines.

• Basket Dosing: The machine came with 4 different baskets, presurized and regular, single and double baskets. We used the regular double basket. As we were dialing in shots, it seemed like the flow rate was very sensitive to the dose amount. When we underdosed in the basket, it seemed impossible to get an acceptable flow rate as it was much too fast. Likewise, when we overdosed, it seemed to also not be possible to get the right flowrate. The different basket and dosing is something that I need to understand more.

• Cleaning including decalcification: one of the concerns expressed online was that the system needed yearly professional maintenance to decalcify. People weren’t sure if this meant it was difficult and meant for only those technically astute. Obviously costly maintenance costs are not something desirable, possibly helped with pre-treated water.

• Temperature accuracy: without precise measuring tools, we do not know the machines ability although taste wise it seemed to be performing. More scientific results would always be better.

• Durability: When I initially laid my hands on the machine, it was considerably lighter than the Giotto. Until I learned to handle the machine smoothly, it was sliding around a bit on me. Compared to the Giotto, the lighter weight and material are different. In my estimation, I don’t think that lighter components should at all be associated with durability. However, I do think that the long term durability should be examined more before I would buy this machine.
  

Conclusions

No machine is perfect and without compromise, but the Breville Dual Boiler seems to tick many boxes for the home barista, certainly many of the main ones. In the cup, the results were certainly impressive. As I said at the beginning, if I was looking for a new machine in this price range, this machine would definitely rank high on my consideration list, although I would want some more answers on my remaining questions.

Tags: Breville Dual Boiler, Espresso Machine Impressions

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Location: 297 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON – Coffee Bar
Other Location: 688a Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON – Coffee Pocket

Review

The first review on this blog was Sam James Coffee Bar. Since then, I have tasted and commented on many shots, along the way changing and developing my taste and palette. During this time, one thing that has remained, my consistently high opinion of SJCB and the newer smaller brother SJCP. Over the last year, I have had the pleasure of visiting the Pocket three times, and I have had very tasty, solid shots. After a visit a few weeks ago to SJCB, I thought I would share these long term impressions, as well as questions that remain in my mind.

The Coffee

For espresso, both SJ shops use the Espressone blend by Montreal’s Toi et Moi, a larger commercial roaster which also supplies Ottawa’s Bridgehead’s chain. The Espressone blend is a specialty grade espresso blend with a medium roast. The origin and composition of the blend is not promoted with the coffee, but rather the roaster, as Sam James, likes to discuss and promote the taste and nuances of the blend, although both are open to composition and origin. Further pushing my preconceptions, the coffee is aged 20 to 30 days in sealed flushed bags before they are used. Sam finds that the he can get “the best out of espresso once its rested”, while stressing the fact that the coffee is not oxidizing and not stale at this point. Although I am hesitant to believe this, I cannot argue that the many shots I had in the shop with the coffee tasted very nice with no attributes of staleness. I also brought some of these beans home, and after much adjustment, I was able to produce some nice tasting shots. Sam further suggested some experiments on which I will follow up, and post some comments.

Furthermore, SJCB offers other brew method which I haven’t explored featuring coffees from Detour Roasters. As I increase my understanding and taste for other brew methods, I will definitely be interested in further exploring this at SJCB given my impression of their high standards.

Preparation and Equipment

If there are two thing that characterizes SJ shops for me it is the dedication to consistent preparation and the attention to every detail of preparation through in depth analysis and testing. I say this not only because of my observations of the preparation, but also based on the email discussions that I had with Sam.

First, let’s talk about the preparation. I have had the chance to watch preparation a few times by a few different baristas, and I have always appreciated a visible intensity and care during preparation. This has been even more impressive in situations where the line was 3 or 4 people deep. Yet the technique was deliberate and unwavering for each drink. It started through measured dosing into a tamper, followed by careful grooming using an improvised Scottie Callahan dosing tool, followed by a carefully timed and watched extraction. I have seen shots tossed without hesitation during busy times.

Secondly, I also had the pleasure of asking a few things from Sam about getting a better cup at home over email. This discussion gave me a bit of an insight into the research and experimentation he does in getting the best possible preparation from both the equipment and technique. The basis of all the customizations are solid high-end equipment with 2- group La Marzoccos: a Linea at SJCB and a GB/5 at SJCP. For grinders, nothing beats the Mazzer Roburs large burrs with modded manual dosers. With this solid equipment, details are the focus, but beyond the basics of dry dose, wet dose, temperature, extraction time, and temperature, details like the VST basket, groups screen, and pump pressure are items that have been analyzed, tested, and adopted. I am sure that if this discussion was continued, many other elements would be included in this list.

A Different Type of Shop

Given all these positives, it is no wonder that I recommended SJCB to a friend of mine as a place to get a good espresso. He came back and commented how good the drinks were great, but how there wasn’t much of an ambiance to really sit around. I hadn’t really noticed this, or wasn’t at all concerned. For me, it was a place to go to where I could have a great drink consistently. The focus is on serving coffee. Exactly what I’m also concerned about. At SJCP where the space has been even more paired down, this concept is more apparent. The only other shop in Toronto that keeps to this formula is another favorite, Fahrenheit Coffee.

The Shot

The nose was filled with inviting fruit sweetness and florals foreshadowing a shot that opened with some crispy citrus and plummy acidity. This quickly turned into stone fruit sweetness that quickly finishes with cherry sweetness on deep dark chocolate. The shot felt clean and crisp, with medium body.



Conclusion – Good Spot (Ratings Guide)

When I first chronicled my first visit almost two years ago, I enjoyed my shot, but didn’t really know how it faired among various shops in Toronto. After many shots around town, I keep on being impressed at the taste of shots that I consistently have at Sam James shops. Given the focus and deliberate scientific attention to process, it is not coincidence that I’ve had some great shots including one that placed on my 2011 memorable list. If I worked downtown, I would be counting down the days until number 3 opens up. I am sure that good espresso will arrive in downtown Toronto.

Other Reviews

• Yelp
  
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Tags: Café Revisits, Sam James Coffee Bar, Toi et Moi Cafe

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Probably the most exciting home espresso machine release in years has been the Breville Dual Boiler. I’m sure you’ve read all about it, but for me the excitement is getting some hands on usage and tasting. The Williams-Sonoma Eaton Centre store has warmly offered me an invitation for a hands on test where I can bring my own coffee and my own grinder, Baratza Vario. Fittingly with Williams Sonoma, 49th Parallel has generously sponsored with some Epic Espresso. The good news is I can bring along some readers who might also be curious to pull and taste. I have a few spots still open. Just contact me below if you are interested by posting a comment with your email address. Don’t worry the email is only visible to me, not every spammer on the Internet.

Here are the event details:

Where: Eaton Centre Williams Sonoma
When: Sunday, February 12th at 12:00PM (Noon)

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Café: St Henri micro-torréfacteur
Location: 3632 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montréal, QC


Review
Over the last couple of years, the Montréal specialty coffee scene has really grown and given the rate of new specialty shops opening, it is not surprising that the specialty roasting is also seeing some new entrants to challenge the larger commercial roasters like Toi et Moi who are not as highly focused on the specialty coffee market. Over the Christmas break, I was able to visit to specialty roaster and Café that opened a year ago, St Henri micro torréfacteur. St Henri is the extension into to the coffee world by JP Leduc who is also the owner of Caffe in Gamba on the Plateau.

My first visit to Gamba was about 3 years ago when I remember first visiting this shop which offers a multi roaster selection from across North America. Given this positive visit and what I had heard about St Henri, I had high expectations which did not disappoint.

The Equipment

Although I know that equipment alone does not make a great espresso, it was a treat trying shots from a La Marzocco Strada EP for the first time. This is the leading machine from La Marzocco with the capability of pressure profiling through the manual paddle or through pre-programmed profiles. Accompanying this machine are two Mazzer grinders, a Robur and a Major, providing two espresso choices.

In addition to espresso, a variety of other brew methods are available in the brew bar area including drip pour over and Aeropress. If I had more frequent visits, these would definitely be methods that I would be looking to taste.

The Coffee

After obtaining his Q Grader qualifications thorough Coop Coffees, it was natural for JF Leduc to maintain the relationship to source fair trade, organic coffee through them. This coffee is generally directly sourced by Coop Coffee from large coffee growing coops. Through these relationships, Coop Coffee is also able to provide direct feedback and help to improve quality. In addition, St Henri partnered with another coop Member, Kickapoo, to directly source their Kenyan coffee.

For espresso, St Henri currently has two offerings: the Godshot and Holy Cow blends. The Godshot espresso blend is an interpretation of what the creators believe to be an excellent tasting shot. This being a balanced shot with touch of acidity, not too sweet with layered complexities. The Holy Cow blend is a close interpretation but formulated for more comfort. Currently, the components of the Godshot are a Peruvian, a Mexican, and a Ethiopian Sidama. Overall, my impression was that the taste profile for the Godshot blend was that it was a rounded approach without heavy biases towards certain attributes. From other reports that I get, comments are positive,

Preparation

When I watched the preparation of my shot, I saw coffee being ground, quickly distributed in the portafilter and then loaded into the machine. Once the shot was started, everything was done automatically by the Strada as the pre-programmed pressure profile was invoked and the shot was terminated after a specified time. Looking at the shot, the liquid ratio looked on the longer side with some blinding during the last 5 or so seconds.

As a follow up, I had a chance to speak with the store manager, Simon, about their extraction parameters and philosophies. For dosing, a 15 gram dose is used with their VST baskets, and a 30 gram liquid weight is the general ratio that they have been using opting for an extraction showcasing different nuances of the coffee rather than a shorter shot increasing sweetness. As for the pressure profiling, the general curve that they use is a slow ramp up to 9 bar during the first 10 seconds, constant pressure until the 25 second mark, with a 5 second tail of declining pressure. By using these pre programmed profiles, St Henri is finding that they can attain consistency.

The Shot

My first impression was a floral berry nose. The first sip opened with a dark chocolate background combined with some brown sugary notes and some berry hints finishing in a pleasant dry cocoa finish. Overall the shot had some light acidity balanced by a medium body. My impression of an overall lighter body was probably based from the longer style that it was pulled at.

Conclusions: Good Spot (Ratings Guide)

As a specialty coffee roaster, St Henri is a great addition to the Montreal scene which has lacked in this department. The passion and drive for achieving great coffee seems apparent from the conversations that I had, as the owner and staff have embarked on the path towards producing coffee at the top levels. Their depth of knowledge is there, as well as the spirit to experiment and do things differently based on personal taste. As they gain in knowledge and experience, I believe they will remain one of my favorite places to visit in Montreal, although Café Myriade still holds the spot of my favourite Montreal coffee shop

Other Reviews

Tags: Café Review, Montreal, St Henri Micro-Torrefacteur

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Café: Fahrenheit Coffee
Location: 120 Lombard Street, Toronto, ON

Visit

One of my favorite openings for last year was Fahrenheit as you might remember me visiting Sameer’s new shop down on the Esplanade near St Lawrence market. This first location attempt was not long lived, but as many of you know, Fahrenheit is back in the St Lawrnce Market area, this time further north on Jarvis with Lombard.

Things have remained quite similar at the new shop. The coffee is Te Aro Roasted consisting of choice between the Diablo espresso which is exclusive to Fahrenheit, and another single origin espresso that rotates. The Diablo espresso is aimed more at the comfort palette with non aggressive chocolate sweetness and caramel undertones, which during my visit was showcased though a single origin Guatemalan. The second espresso choice is aimed at a more adventurous palette which in my case was a Sidama Natural that had the expected wine-like berry nose in a shot that was full-flavored with berry flavors on a dark chocolate background.

The equipment at Fahrenheit remains the same as a Della Corte Pro is paired with Mahlkkonig K30 Twin for the two espressos. But the highlight for me remains the leading barista skills behind the counter from Sameer and his integration and accessibility to customers. Personally, I’m looking forward to some sessions that he is planning with home baristas.

Tags: Café Visit, Fahrenheit Coffee, Te Aro Roasted, Toronto

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One of the first experiments I remember doing as a home barista was the thirds splitting exercise described on Home-Barista. For me this exercise compartmentalized the different stages of extraction by associating them with overall taste results. This essentially got me to quickly adjust the timing on my espresso shot based on taste results that were produced. Years later, I redid this experiment with a slightly modified twist in that I added a third.

The Setup

Start off with a coffee that you like and has a clean taste. Next, in order to limit palette fatigue, I would suggest starting with a coffee that you’ve dialed in for your morning drinks and you have a nice clean palette. Besides your usual preparation gear, such as timer and scale, you will need 5 espresso cups and some water for cleaning the palette between sips. Then follow these steps:

1. Pull a shot into one of the espresso cups with the parameters that you have already dialed in.
   
2. Pull a second long over extracted shot into the other 4 cups by splitting the liquid equally as it comes out. Thus the first cup will contain the first third of the extraction output from the first 8 seconds, and the last cup will contain the over extraction after the normal extraction time has expired.
   
3. Now start tasting all the different cups. I would recommend starting from the weakest overextracted cup down to the first extraction, and then the dialed in shot. Use water in between shots for palette cleansing.
   

Example of tasting notes for the exercise

For this exercise, I used a Colombian microlot from Fratello. This is a wonderfully well-balanced coffee with nice sweetness that first appears on a the nose with aromas that remind me of fresh baking with brown sugar and cinnamon notes. The shot awakens the palette with slight citrus acidity and cinnamon spice and turns into light caramel ending in a nice clean finish from the creamy liquid.

As for the thirds shots, let’s describe the different shots:

1. The over extracted shot – the fourth third – had clumpy crema that was yellow in blobs on the top. The liquid was very thin with little taste that had hints of sweetness combined with slightly lingering unpleasant bitterness. bitterness. If this was part of the espresso, it would just serve to water down the espresso while adding only unpleasant flavors.
   
2. The normal last third had pale, thin crema and the taste was thin but more pronounced then the first shot with sugary caramel hints and maybe some slight florals on the nose. The bitterness had also decreased considerably.
   
3. The middle third was the best tasting of the split shots. Its crema looked evenly mid toned as it was evenly coating the top. On the nose sugar notes were predominant. The shot had definite caramel flavors and sweetness, but overall the body was a little on the thin side and the cup lacked acidity making it flat. The biggest lack was complexity. This third felt very “boring”.
   
4. The first third shot was an ultra ristretto, an espresso on steroids. From sight, the crema was darkly brown with lots of dark flecking, and the aroma had citrusy, lemony notes combined with lots of cinnamon. Sipping the shot was very awakening as the very thick liquid with its lemon acidity and spicy cinnamon hit the mouth, but nothing seemed to follow, just slow fading of these harsh flavors lacking sweetness and comfort.
   

How This Helps

In tasting all these components, I realized that each third had a role in balancing and complementing the other thirds. By combining the distinct tastes together in the mind, it help me to gauge a shot and it’s extraction. A shot that is not run long enough will be more taste awakening, harsher, and more acidic, while a shot that is run too long will taste thin and have more bitterness and less sweetness. With these stereotypes and trends in mind, and scales and timers in hand, it will become much easier to dial in shots based on measurable parameters and taste. The one thing I caution is to always associate taste characteristics with extraction, sometimes the problem is in the coffee selection. If I had chosen a coffee with bitter characteristics, then I would have seen much more bitterness in all parts of the shot.

Tags: Espresso Tips, Fratello Coffee

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