Espresso Thread

[t-bone]

Good info, I thought I remembered that robusta was used for increasing crema in espresso blends... a little more googling led me to this awesome article:

http://www.espressotec.com/media/downloads/262/FC0605_RobustaRehab.pdf

[t-bone]

And since now I need to know which of my go-to blends use Robusta...

Gimme Coffee doesn't reveal their blend, but this article says yes:

http://www.espressotec.com/media/downloads/262/FC0605_RobustaRehab.pdf

(also says that Counter Culture, Intelligentsia and Stumptown eschew it, and Blue Bottle has at least one with some Robusta)

Cafe Grumpy changes their Heartbreaker blend seasonally, but it's currently all Arabica from South or Central America.

Joe gets their Espresso blend roasted by Ecco, which I believe has an affiliation with Intelligentsia and therefore probably uses no Robusta.

[chandler]

I also recall that some of this was historical, that one early attraction to espresso was that it could be made w lesser quality beans ( Italy being extremely poor at the time). Having said that, I can't find that history now (so maybe I'm getting that screwed up)

Are there any home roasters here?

[ferryshit]

Man this is a great thread on SZ! Iv been a Barista for 4 years now and i had the pleasure of using a Slayer at the Flight roastery where we get our coffee from. It was ridicules, the amount of control you get in your hands, i pulled a 60ml expresso shot and it had perfect balance with the 3 parts of the shot tying into each other instead of say the bitterness being over powering (which you would expect in a 60ml shot). If any of you guys get a chance to use one i would defiantly recommend it! haha damn coffee is such a great thing!

[Chinorlz]

Man this is a great thread on SZ! Iv been a Barista for 4 years now and i had the pleasure of using a Slayer at the Flight roastery where we get our coffee from. It was ridicules, the amount of control you get in your hands, i pulled a 60ml expresso shot and it had perfect balance with the 3 parts of the shot tying into each other instead of say the bitterness being over powering (which you would expect in a 60ml shot). If any of you guys get a chance to use one i would defiantly recommend it! haha damn coffee is such a great thing!

I've not had a shot pulled from a Slayer just yet but I had some drinks from a La Marzocco Strada which was pretty good but not mindblowing. It was a rush Sunday brunch time frame and I think the barista was more focused on getting the drinks out than adjusting the pressure on the fly though.

Looks like RBC in NY closed last year which had a Slayer... wonder where it went.