“City to Full City: Refined cup. Honeyed, fleshy fruits, complex spice hints, fruited chocolate torte. A true beauty. Good for espresso.” -Sweet Marias
The first sip is slightly sweet, with a subtle spice note, but it seems a little tight. The body is light, a little juicy, with little to no acidity present at the moment. The finish is clean and smooth with no lingering notes.
As it slowly cools, the spice notes are a little stronger, and the sweetness is slowly opening up. It is well balanced, with almost no acidity, but the sweetness is still light, so it balances out. There is a light fruit note, which kind of reminds me of the fleshy part of an orange. The finish is still smooth, but does have a light chocolate note that lingers a little.
I can agree that it is a refined cup, with the spice as the interesting part of this roast, providing most of the flavor. The fruit notes were very light, but did make an impression when they were present. 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 light honey sweetness and spices 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: This roast definitely makes a great espresso. The complex spices and honey sweetness really come together in a condensed form. I still get a sweet fruit flavor, but it has a stronger orange rind note to it now, with a little acidity.