DESCRIPTION
Strength: 9
Flavour notes: Dark Chocolate, Berry
This brute of a blend charges head first, packs a pernicious wallop of caffeine, with an upfront match winning kick to the palatte.
It will very much awaken the senses & aquaint you to the beauty of the morninng.
Blended for those who enjoy a very strong dark espresso coffee
Family Farm | Forest Coffee | Hand Picked | Uncertified Organic
Black Matador Espresso: A Tale of Bulls and Boldness.
In the heart of Andalusia, amidst the vibrant world of Spanish bullfighting, a legend espresso was born – Black Matador Espresso. It's a tale that will make you understand the diverse and necessary reasons for craving a very strong espresso.
Once upon a time, in a small village nestled in the rolling hills, lived a daring and mischievous matador named Carlos. Renowned for his fearless spirit and boundless wit, Carlos found himself in a rather peculiar situation. He yearned to liberate the noble bulls from their fate in the arena. But how?
Driven by an audacious plan, Carlos decided to concoct a special blend of espresso, strong enough to fuel the bulls' vigor and cunning. The bulls became very partial to their morning Black Matador Espresso because with each sip, the bulls would find newfound energy, allowing them to outmaneuver their tormentors, fences or indeed any other obstacle and escape to freedom. But the plan did not foresee that the bulls would return to their fields each morning to have Carlos provide them with another shot, only to escape again shortly after. The secret behind the Black Matador Espresso lies in its robust and intense flavor profile. This blend packs a punch that will jolt your senses awake and just like the bulls that tasted freedom, this espresso will make you feel unstoppable. Carlos’s espresso achieved attained legendary status because all who consumed did all they planned to do each day and more. We pay homage to Black Matador Espresso, a very strong espresso and its invitation to get things done.
Espresso blends typically consist of a variety of coffee beans sourced from different regions or countries. Each component brings its own set of attributes to the blend, such as flavour notes like chocolate and nuttiness. It is with the careful selecting and combination of beans that a roaster can create a blend that showcases the best qualities of each component.
Roasting plays a crucial role in the development of an espresso blend. The beans are typically roasted to a medium to dark roast level to enhance body, sweetness, and caramelization while maintaining enough acidity to provide a balanced taste. The roast profile is carefully calibrated to ensure that the beans extract optimally during the short brewing time of an espresso shot.
The resulting espresso blend is characterized by a full-bodied, intense flavour with a well-rounded acidity and a thick, velvety crema. It is specifically designed to be brewed using an espresso machine, which applies pressure to force hot water through finely ground coffee at a controlled rate, resulting in a concentrated and aromatic beverage.
Our espresso blends are carefully crafted combination of coffee beans that aims to create a flavourful and balanced espresso experience, showcasing our expertise and the unique qualities of the beans used in the blend.
Like most subjective aspects of coffee, strength is subjective. It’s even hard to define. Evidently, everyone wants, like in love, something different in their relationship with coffee whether it can be in mouthfeel, viscosity or flavour.
The Strong Espresso Collection offers a range of dark roast profiles and blends that are progressively roasted darker. Each blend takes a particular green bean origin and processing method to create a key attribute of the blend. Then further body and flavour complexity is derived by blending an additional componentry of beans in density, size and origin.
The Table below is a guide to each of the blend attributes and mirrors the targets of the roaster, Joe, to measure the outcomes of the particular roast profile.
![](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-95sdq52609/images/stencil/original/image-manager/strong-coffee-table-2023.png?t=1687493742)
Strength
With the flavour of dark notes, their intensity increases as greater heat and advancing time increasingly influences the roast outcome. The Strength figure reflects this progressive change in cup profile.Acidity There is also an inevitable change in the mouthfeel of the blend as it advances along the roast profile timeline, this is in the form of a naturally declining acidity in the cup as the related compounds, principally mild quinnic, malic and acetic acids are destroyed by the advancing heat and time. We simply express a starting point for Acidity measurement as an indicative % and this reduces to effectively zilch and a very smooth and flat cup profile is produced.
Development Time Ratio [DTR%]
Progressive time in the roaster is measured from first crack by the roaster and is calculated as time from First Crack to the end of the roast, as a percentage of total roast time. Roasters enjoy nothing more than discussing DTR%, so we included it here for you to be part of the conversation.
First Crack and Second Crack
In the roasting process the coffee beans has two stages when they make a distinctive cracking sound. At first crack the last of the water vapour in the bean is driven out through the porous ends of the beans and they are cinnamon in colour. It is only at this point that you can make anything in the name of coffee.
Around an equal amount of time that the beans took to get to first crack there is a second crack sound in the roast caused by the release of carbon dioxide through the beans. At this stage the beans are going to be notably darker in colour. You can roast through and after second crack but it will not be far thereafter that the beans will simply combust and glow like burning embers.
There is no definite rule as to determine the starting point of a dark roast in description of colour or otherwise. A roaster would certainly say that a starting point for general discussion about this starting point might be “Towards second crack.”
A definition of a coffee snob might be a person who refuses to drink a dark roast on the premise of lack of complexity in the cup. The argument is that a dark roast destroys the inherent flavour complexity of a bean, as flavour are burnt up and out of the chimney to the delight of passersby’s and replaced with a singular smooth cup.
A beans density has a lot to do with the outcome of any dark roast. A seed that is denser in its organic structure then another, for example an almond nut is denser than a cashew nut. Therefore it will take a lot more heat than the cashew before incinerating. That is, its centre will still taste nutty when the cashew nut is charring at centre. A denser or harder green coffee bean carries more flavour because it has taken a longer time to mature, it is slower growing and has gained a more fibrous structure. It will also take the heat. A darker roast requires a blend of differing density beans in order that there is a range of dark roast flavours. We tend towards a particular bean density and origin in any blend.
Blend Components
A strong coffee might be simply described as a coffee blend containing 100% Robusta beans as in instant coffee. This bean varietal is say half the price of arabica beans and it can have a very rough and ready taste reminiscent of motor oil and burnt rubber. It generates more coffee oils, and has double the caffeine.
There are an increasing amount of specialty robusta beans coming to market, Estate Robustas, sun dried and wet processed and we use this new sourcing within the blends.
1. Remove handle (portafilter) from machine.
2. Fill the portafilter with 20g of coffee ground (Adjust the measurements and times proportionally if your quantity is more or less).
3. Distribute the coffee evenly around the basket, goaling an equal bed depth when tamped.
4. Press coffee tamper firmly and evenly down on the coffee.
5. Lock the handle back into your espresso machine and start a shot.
6. This pour should take between 35 seconds (plus or minus 5 seconds) and produce 45ml of espresso including crema.
7. The espresso shot will change from a dark brown colour to a pale blonde colour before finishing.
Espresso should pour slowly starting as a drip and turning into a fine pour.
8. Change to a finer grind setting if the shot runs too quickly.
9. Change to a coarser grind setting if the shot runs too slowly.
10. Always use heated cups to preserve the crema.
THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLES PROVIDE THE BEST RESULT:
Weighing your coffee for each cup.
Grinding your coffee immediately before use.
Using fresh coffee. Coffee over 3 months old is inevitably stale.
Monitoring grind size, goal a 4 minute extraction to commence with.
Water quality makes a difference, tap water is treated for health outcomes not quality.
See our Table for indicative weights and measures for brewing.
2 Reviews Hide Reviews Show Reviews
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black matador
good product. The last batch of coffe was already 20 days old. Hope the product stays fresh. Used to buying coffee just roasted.
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One of the best coffees we have purchased
If you enjoy a strong expresso we can recommend this blend. It is a favourite of the many choices of blends offered and will continue to order and enjoy