“City to FC+: Dark fruits, berry fruit leather, stone fruits and tamarind. Sweet/bittersweet base, cocoa powder, with a full body. Good for espresso.” -Sweet Marias
The first few sips are mild, not very sweet with the cocoa powder throughout. There is little acidity to start, but there are light fruit notes and the tamarind comes through in the finish with the light tartness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied.
Still at a medium temperature, the dark fruit notes are more noticeable, adding a little sweetness. The body also seems fuller. There were a few flashes of berry sweetness, but not as much as I would expect from a fruit leather. Maybe more like a no sugar added berry leather that has some tartness to it. I have only tried commercial fruit leathers, so I am guessing that’s why I was expecting a more sugary fruit sweetness. The acidity still comes in the finish, and it has softened and integrates well with the dark fruit sweetness. After the tamarind tartness fades, the finish also has cocoa powder bitterness and hints of stone fruit sweetness. I am thinking apricot, but I only got a few sips of it before it faded.
I like the cocoa notes in this batch. It was soft, and sweet at first, but as it cooled, it was more bittersweet, which helped offset the dark fruits. The fruit notes and sweetness were light, but balanced well with the tamarind. The stone fruits were slow to develop and didn’t last long, but they were a nice addition to offset the bittersweet cocoa finish as the cup cooled. I enjoyed this roast, and I can see this being my first cup in the morning, with the light fruit sweetness, and the tamarind and cocoa providing some tart/bittersweet contrast. 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.
I needed an afternoon pick me up a few days ago, so I ran this through the AeroPress and it definitely has more sweetness when it’s concentrated, but the cocoa bitterness is there to offset it still. The tamarind was less noticeable, but I might run this through the Moka pot to see if changes again.