“City+ to Full City+: Big fruited cup, ripe cherry, strawberry, banana bread, green melon accent, cocoa, nut tones, big bodied coffee. Good for espresso” -Sweet Marias
The first sip is bursting with flavor! There are cherry notes and banana bread right up front, with a hint of strawberry. The body is big and juicy, with little to no acidity present at the moment. The finish is smooth with lingering notes of cocoa and a light nutty undertone.
As it slowly cools, the fruit notes are integrating into the banana bread and cocoa notes, but they are not disappearing. The cherry notes are still strong, however the strawberry note is lighter. It is well balanced, with almost no acidity,and there is a nice fruit sweetness that balances out with the cocoa bitterness. There was a flash of a green melon note, but more like the flesh near the rind, which is less sweet and maybe a little bitter/sour, if that makes any sense. The finish still has the lingering cocoa and nut undertones.
I like dry processed coffees, because they tend to have much more fruit and body to the cup, imparted by the drying cherries. This roast did not disappoint, and I have enjoyed drinking this one very much! The fruit notes are bright and make an impression right up front! This roast was targeted at Full City, and I think it was pretty close, as it retained the light fruit notes and sweetness. I can see why these beans would be good for espresso, where the big fruit notes would be drawn out, so expect an update for that as well. 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.
Update: I whipped up a moka pot of this for my espresso tasting and it is fantastic! The first thing that hits is the sweetness, and then a big cocoa note that has hints of the banana bread and nuts. It lingers on the tongue and as it fades, there are light hints of fruit that were covered up by the big chocolate note up front. The big body of the coffee definitely comes through in the espresso, and makes these beans an absolute favorite of mine.