DESCRIPTION
Strength: 7
Our House Blend
A crowd pleaser from start to finish. Enough said.
Flavour Notes: Caramel & Hazelnut
This long time favourite amoungst the masses has become the staple point that’s set a benchmark for all our subsequent blends.
A fushion of coffee to create a pleasant acidity complemented with rich nutty undertones that cleanses the palate to finish.
The starting point for any sensible strong cofffee drinker.
Family Farm | Forest Coffee | Hand Picked | Uncertified Organic
In the quaint city of Venice, during the charming seventeenth century, dwelled a gondolier named Luigi—a man of poetic songs, nimble oar-strokes, and an incorrigible romantic streak. His heart danced to the tune of love, forever bewitched by the beauty and sentimentality that enveloped him. Deep within his being, he harbored an all-consuming adoration for a lovely slave girl named Isabella, ensnared by the clutches of a heartless merchant.
Every day, Luigi would glide along the shimmering canals, his gondola a vessel of dreams, passing by the palazzo where Isabella languished. Through the stern iron bars of her prison, their eyes would meet, forging an unspoken bond in stolen moments. Luigi was resolute in his desire to liberate Isabella and claim her as his own, yet his aspirations far outweighed his modest means.
On a day painted with serendipity, as Luigi maneuvered through the bustling Rialto Market, he stumbled upon a modest stall manned by a whimsical coffee merchant, Signor Giovanni. This towering figure possessed an air of mystical knowledge, renowned for his understanding of coffee beans from every corner of the globe. However, to Luigi's surprise, the shelves lay bare, bereft of the aromatic beans that usually filled them.
Intrigued by this peculiar scene, Luigi approached Signor Giovanni, hoping to uncover the mystery. And thus, Signor Giovanni unfolded a tale, speaking of the impending Republic's inaugural coffee roasting competition—a grand affair promising a bountiful reward of 100 ducats for the finest roast. The prospect of triumphing in the competition, securing the funds required to liberate Isabella, set Luigi's heart ablaze. Determined to master the art of blending and the delicate alchemy of coffee roasting, he transformed his dear grandmother's trusty pizza oven into a clandestine laboratory.
Weeks melted into months as Luigi fervently experimented with countless combinations of coffee beans and roasting techniques. He roasted, ground, brewed, and savored countless cups of the invigorating brew, relentless in his pursuit of the ultimate blend. His gondola morphed into a curious sanctuary, brimming with sacks of beans from every corner of the Earth, captivating the attention of amused onlookers and inquisitive tourists.
At long last, after sleepless nights and euphoric revelations fueled by caffeine, Luigi unveiled his magnum opus. He had concocted a blend of celestial perfection, a symphony of flavors that promised to astound the discerning palates of the competition's judges. With hints of chocolate, caramel, and nut, the Venezia Primo blend soared as a testament to Luigi's unyielding dedication. Its bold and harmonious character painted an indulgent masterpiece upon the tongue.
Fortune favored Luigi, for he was soon united with his beloved Isabella in matrimony. The city of Venice, swept up in the tide of their blissful union, burst into vibrant celebration. A splendid cavalcade of gondolas traversed the shimmering canals, resounding with the jubilant cries of the revelers. The aroma of Venezia Primo wafted through the air, as the Rialto Market became a haven for joyous indulgence.
Thus, Luigi's ardent quest, kindled by his love for Isabella, not only birthed the legendary Venezia Primo espresso coffee, adored by connoisseurs far and wide, but also served as a reminder that in the face of adversity, a simple cup of coffee possesses the extraordinary power to triumph over all obstacles.
Luigi and Isabella, they lived happily ever after, their journey a whimsical symphony of love and a caffeine-fueled delight.
Espresso blends are specially crafted and optimized for brewing espresso. They are a combination of different coffee beans carefully selected and roasted to create a range of unique flavour profiles.
The goal of any espresso blend is to achieve a harmonious balance of flavours, acidity, body, and crema—the rich, golden layer that tops a well-made espresso shot. And it is the blending allows coffee roasters to combine beans with distinct characteristics to create a more complex and well-rounded flavour in the final cup.
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.
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.
Use the best water quality you can obtain for the best result.
See our Table for indicative weights and measures for brewing.
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Excellent products and service
Service was very quick and easy and products are amazing.