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Coffee Break!
Above: Chocolatier, Xenon Mallari, samples a Kenyan coffee at the “Coffee of the Year” cupping area of the SCAA Show.
The Happy Ending crew was recently visited by our good friend, Josh Walter (aka Josher), owner of Sunrise Coffee in Las Vegas. Josher’s boutique coffee shop only serves organic products and he’s extremely particular about the products he carries. As an avid coffee connoisseur and hands-on owner, Josher attends coffee expositions to sample products to make sure they pass his strict criteria. We joined Josher on his quality-coffee-quest (say that three times fast) at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) show in Anaheim.
Here are some of the show’s highlights and our favorite products:
Top 5 Espressos (with a couple of ties)
5. Intelligentsia, a coffee company determined to provide top notch coffee products through a high caliber staff trained at their Chicago location. We had their Kenya Tharaka blend. It was extremely wild, like a jungle in your mouth. Very acidic with hints of bacon and mushroom. Lots of umami! quite savory and great for the seasoned espresso aficionado.
5. Fratello, Boutique Coffee Roasters, based in Alberta, Canada, produces coffee artisinally with careful attention to sourcing and responsible purchasing. We had their Diamond Mountain Single Estate from Panama. They used the Slayer Machine, which allows the artisan barista to use their instincts to control pressure and timing instead of digital machines. The Panama blend was bright with a plethora of citrus notes, very springtime. Almost sour throughout. The Slayer machine is shown below.
4. Cefecito Organico, the Los Angeles based organic roaster poured us a shot of their Calandestino, a special blend consisting of beans from mainly El Salvador but also with beans from Ethiopia and Costa Rica. It had a medium roast that had a syrupy palate that was sweet like honey, it had a slight berry flavor. The flavors were subtle. Great for the novice or casual espresso drinker.
4. Fratello poured us another shot from their slayer machine, their Competition Blend. The aroma was sweet and sugary. The palate had a pronounced acidity with a creamy finish, almost like chocolate, maybe cocoa butter.
3. Four Barrel Coffee, located in the Mission area of San Francisco, that consistently ranks as one of the top coffee shops in the Bay Area. We tried their Guatemala Bella Carmona. We had a shot from the La Marzocco machine, which uses digital devices to control pressure and time of shots so as to adjust to different roasts and time of day or even season. Our shot was a 26 second shot. Citrus front with a semi-sweet chocolate finish, slightly acidic.
3. Olympia Coffee Roasting Co., a 100% organic roaster based in Olympia, Washington pured us their Bolivia Cafe Golondrina. There was a jasmine syrupy palate up front with a nutty finish, medium acidity and just slightly sour throughout.
2. 49th Parallel Roasters, based in Canada tags themselves as “Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love.” We had their Epic Espresso. Barista Vince Piccolo poured from their elaborate lever style machine, the espresso had a very floral aroma. There was great execution in their pour and a nice feeling of the oil extraction from the shot. A lingering sweet finish that starts slightly acidic. Very well balanced.
1. Intelligentsia got us again with their Black Cat. Their signature espresso had a great balance of flavors. Sweet with medium acidity and a very smooth finish. Ty McNulty of Intelligentsia in Los Angeles proudly poured their signature espresso for us.
Favorite Product: The Mypressi Twist. Great for people on-the-go. The Twist uses no external power and utilizes the same type of nitrous oxide cartridges used for whipped cream. The cartridges provide 135 psi (9bars) of pressure that enables you to extract essential oils and other flavors for your espresso.
Enjoy the rest of the pictures! Always trust your own palate. Also, don’t forget to visit Sunrise Coffee in Las Vegas, if you’re ever in the area. Tell them Happy Ending sent you! They’re located at 3130 East Sunset Road.
Josher explains the workings of a Unic espresso machine.
The Iron Chefs of the Barista world.
Halogen brewing method that produces a complex flavor with a variety of distinct notes. Popular in Japan, but fairly unknown in the United States. Only used by the Coffee Gastronomes over at Bluebottle in San Francisco.
