A unique combination of South American coffee beans that offer a smooth textured, fully body Espresso that yields a consistently rich crema. Our focus was to create an Espresso that the stealthiest Barista would love. A must have for anyone that enjoys a dominant Espresso blend.
Cupping Notes: Dark chocolate, walnut, graham cracker, hazelnut.
Barista Notes: Use for versatile espresso & cappuccino combinations. Espresso Martini friendly!
Chef Notes: Use fine espresso grounds in replacement of recipes calling for espresso powder. This espresso can provide for a more superior in depth flavor. Works great with Chocolate Intemperance, waffles, Birthday Cakes and more.
Espresso Overview
Espresso (or expresso as the French use) is usually made from Arabica and Robusta Coffee beans. The beans are often dark roasted, and the caffeine content is high. The grinds are meant to be fine, but finding a balance is crucial: too fine results in over-extraction, while too coarse results in watery coffee. Despite the science of it’s brewing, expresso is actually a versatile drink: some prefer their expresso bold and strong, while others prefer it soft and flavorful.
This mix of beans in the Expresso Fairtrade Blend comes from South America, a unique region that transitions from the arid desert of the Southwest to the humid jungles of South America, and therein, the geography ranges from high mountains to coastal plains. Connecting the two continents of the New World, and positioned between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Seas, Central America is home to famous ancient cultures like the Maya and Aztecs, which have combined with Colonial Spanish history to create a unique Latino cultural fusion. What follows is a brief survey of some of the highlights of Central American coffee.
Other locations for Espresso include:
Costa Rican coffee, which is believed to be one of the best in Central America, is full-bodied with richness, robustness, and crispness. The high altitudes lead to pleasant levels of acidity, and its tastes have been associated with brown sugar, citrus, and apricot-like fruitiness. It’s a highly rated coffee that’s making increasing appearances in reserve and high quality blends.
Nicaragua is known for smooth-bodied, subtle and balanced coffee with hints of nuts and vanilla. Unfortunately, civil wars, Cold-war embargos, and natural disasters have severely impacted the trade, but Nicaragua is bouncing back; there are a number of diverse regions producing a varieties of tastes and qualities.
Ecuador is most famous for the Galapagos Islands, a mostly-pristine biological wonderland visited by Charles Darwin, but the mainland is home to a medium-bodied coffee with fair amounts of acidity. Belize is not a large exporter of its full-bodied bean, but most of the coffee growing happens on a single 50-acre plantation, the gallon Jug, under the jungle foliage. El Salvadorian coffees tend to be softer, less acidic, and containing notes of honey, which makes it an excellent choice for smoothing out a blend.
The coffee industries of Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico are all well established, and the various geographies of these countries, ranging from mountainous to coastal to rainforest, have created a variety of qualities and tastes that are ranked and named after the region of town of origin.
