2018-07-07 — La Tacita Floral Gesha Blend

Roast Date: 7 Jul 2018
Roast Level: C+
Duration: 11m47s
First Crack @ 8m44s
Rating: ★★★☆☆
1.2lb → 1.016lb; 15% Weight Loss

Sweet Maria’s

La Tacita Floral proves that when it comes to espresso, a little Gesha cultivar goes a long way. To be fair, ¹⁄₃ is no small amount, and from the high level of floral flavor and aroma found in the shot, I’d believe it if I were told this was 100% Gesha cultivar. We roasted several batches of this blend, and some of my favorites were on the lighter end of the roast spectrum, but with stretched roast times. For example, a City+ roast that we might normally achieve in 10 minutes, was dragged out an extra 3 to 4 minutes by making more incremental adjustments in heat, which allows the coffee to roast more evenly from the inside out. This also tends to mute acidity a bit, which for a blend of coffees that have some of the highest acidity scores, rolling off that intensity in the shot is a good thing. These long but light roasts could be extracted at a 1:1 ratio (18 grams in / 18 grams out) and show lemony brilliance without getting overly bright or metallic results. An up front burst of Meyer lemon quickly fades to floral chocolate flavor that coats your palate. There’s an underlying sweetness that staves off any bittering flavors that often come with chocolate roast tone, and unbound floral accent notes proliferate. A strong note of pearl jasmine tea weaves through the undercurrent of sweetened dark cocao, infusing the shot with flowery perfumed note that lingers like a stargazer lily, as does a mix of dark orange, chocolate syrup, and rose water. Our Full City roast was still loaded with floral overtones and of course dark chocolate, a flavor mix consistent with high % cacao bar spiked with jasmine flower. There was also a dark fruit note different from our lighter roasts that comes off like sweetened pomegranate juice, and with mandarin-like vibrance woven through. This blend was constructed with espresso in mind, but each of the three ingredients score 90+ on their own, and so shooting for a dual-use roast for both brewing and espresso is a more than viable option.

Roast Notes

It was so hot while I roasted, so cooling the beans may have been less effective than normal.

Cupping

As with the past few roasts, this is a first for me, so I’m not quite callibrated for these flavors.

Acidity: Barely any acidity, at least that I can detect.

Sweetness: Fruity, chocolatey sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Chalky?

Flavor: Same as the sweetness, but generally speaking still really subdued.

Finish: I taste the floral notes in the finish.

Balance: Good coffee, but not the “as good as Dumerso” I was hoping for.