Pre-Ground Panama Esmeralda Geisha 2008

This morning, we decided to conduct an experiment. We ground a small sample of our Panama Esmeralda, sealed it in a bag, and will cup it in a week.

This will be a side-by-side comparison between two Esmeraldas: the Esmeralda ground today and an Esmeralda ground ten seconds prior to the cupping.

How good are the valve bags?

No cream, please.

Photo credits: Wine glass by Adam S. Palmer; Coffee & cream by PhotoDu.de.

"It's Just Coffee" or "Coffee is Like Wine"?

Cleaning the Coffee Roaster

To prevent fires in the roastery, proper roaster maintenance and scheduled cleaning is key.

Paradise Labs and Espresso Adagio

We try to roast only what is required each and every day, but we can’t be perfect all the time. We use the left over coffee (most often less than 20 grams) for various reasons: quality control, morning coffee, retail samples, and experimentation.

The other day, we had a small sampling of some of our most expensive coffees (Panama Esmeralda, Hawaii Ka’u, and Colombia Andrade Bourbon) left over. In total, there was less than one hundred grams. We couldn’t resist combining them and pulling a shot of espresso out of the resulting blend. For curiosity’s sake.

Photo by: Adam S. Palmer

It was an absolute success. The espresso was light, bright, and relaxing. It was an extremely easy-to-drink espresso with floral aromatics and a cup reminiscent of oranges caramelizing in a pan sprinkled with brown sugar.

This espresso made us realize that we couldn’t keep these kinds of experiments secret. Even if we can’t offer them on any reasonable scale for sale, we really wanted to at least offer the experience to someone outside of our roastery. This was the inspiration and push we needed to start Paradise Labs.

Paradise Labs is our effort to be transparent. We want to let you know what we're doing, what we're trying, and what we're enjoying. Thus, these experiments will be made available for sale. The quantities will be extremely limited (more often than not less than 10lbs), but at least these unique experiences will be shared.

Espresso Adagio is our first offering. It's the Hawaiian, Andrade, and Esmeralda espresso blend that wowed us. There's only two pounds available, and we hope it's well received.


The experimentations will continue...

Shakerato - The Best Part of Summer

I discovered the Shakerato relatively recently in my coffee career. I don't know how I managed to never come across such a classic beverage, but I'm glad I finally did. In my opinion, it is the best way to enjoy espresso cold and is now about the only way I'll indulge in iced coffee. Personally, I prefer mine made with Panama Esmeralda Special roasted light but African and Colombian coffees also work very well for this beverage. Here is my recipe for summer refreshment:

Emerald Shakerato

1) pour a double shot of Panama Esmeralda into a cocktail shaker
2) add 1-2tsp of simple syrup (granulated or deramera sugar can also be used)
3) fill cocktail shaker 1/2 way with ice cubes and shake vigorously
4) strain into a chilled glass

5) I normally don't add anything to my coffee or espresso, but in this case, I enjoy my shakerato with a twist of lemon and a splash of cream.

6) Enjoy!

Ten tips on how to make the perfect pot of french press coffee

1. Start with fresh roasted coffee, no older than 21 days.
2. Grind the coffee beans immediately before brewing.
3. Use a coarse grind.



4. Add 9-10 grams (about 2 T) of ground coffee per 6 oz of water to the press pot.



5. Use near boiling water (at least 200 degrees F).
6. Pour the water evenly over the coffee grounds, ensuring all of the coffee gets wet.



7. Set the top of the press over the wet grounds to help prevent heat loss.
8. Let coffee steep for 3-4 minutes.



9. By pressing the filter down, push all of the coffee grounds to the bottom of the pot.
10. Serve immediately and enjoy.

To Ice or Not to Ice?

We're in the final process of creating a seasonal espresso, Safari Blend, and while pulling some shots the other day, we decided to test whether an iced espresso or iced americano was better. There has been a controversy as to whether or not it is appropriate to pour espresso over ice.

We pulled a double with one spout dripping into a glass with water and the other spout dripping onto ice. We then added ice to the espresso and water glass. We were careful to keep the ratio of water/ice to espresso equal in both glasses.

The iced espresso was easily better.

More aromatics, less bitterness, more noticable fruity notes.

Granted, this doesn't mean this will work with any and all coffees (lighter roasts are often more receptive to becoming an iced espresso, which was what we were using), but it was an interesting sidenote to the day.