“City+ to Full City+: Dried fruit, raw sugar flavors, balanced, bodied cup, dried unsulfured apricot, peach, demerara sugar, cocoa powder. Good for espresso.” -Sweet Marias
The first sip is sweet, but the cocoa note is the biggest flavor in the cup initially. There is definitely a nice sweetness to the finish as well, with some light fruit notes coming through. There is little to no acidity at the moment, and the finish lingers with the cocoa notes.
Now at a medium temperature, there are small flashes of peach and apricot, which I caught in the finish, adding a little complexity to the cup. The demerara sugar sweetness also adds some complexity, as it does seem to impart a light caramel-like smoothness to the finish. The cup has a nice integration with the fruit notes, and the sugar sweetness, which would normally make me think of a lighter, juicy body, but the cocoa notes give it more of a medium body.
I liked the sweetness of the demerara sugar and how it paired with the light fruit notes. The demerara sugar imparted a caramel note to the finish which added a degree of smoothness. I got the impression of caramel from the sugar when it was still hot, rather than a molasses feel, but as it cooled, it could have changed to be more molasses like than caramel. The fruit notes were light, but did make an impression when they were present, especially the peach note. This roast was targeted at Full City, and I think it was close, but may be closer to City+, as it retained the light fruit notes and sweetness. I can see why these beans would be good for espresso, where the sweetness would be concentrated. As for the roasting details, the roast was done in the Gene Cafe roaster, with a heat setting of 460 degrees, for 15 minutes. First crack started approximately around 13:00 minutes and continued for about 1.5 minutes. Cooling was done in the Gene, down to 215 degrees, and then removed and cooled in a colander until room temperature.