New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Discussion of various types and blends of commercially available pre-roasted beans, their best sources, prices, their respective merits, and the Vivaldi settings required to optimism flavor.
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JohnB

New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by JohnB »

After pulling shots for two days I think I may have finally found what will become my "everyday" espresso. Atomic Cafe's Daterra Farm Reserve http://www.shopatomicafe.com/shop/artic ... 027.001%26
I've been pulling 17g shots @94*C today w/5 sec. p/i & will give 95*C a try tomorrow but this has to be the most forgiving espresso I've come across. Little or no clumping, beautiful pours with & without p/i & zero wet pucks. Delicious as a straight shot or Americano & very reasonably priced. A 2lb bag was only $23 for an espresso blend that easily equals the quality of CCC & Intelli's better known blends.
Along with the great taste & forgiving nature it is also relatively mild caffeine wise so you can enjoy a number of doubles throughout the day without getting hammered.
According to their roaster it is in its prime 5-14 days past roast & Atomic ships by Priority Mail so it shouldn't take more then 3 days to get anywhere in the cont. U.S.

Edit 10/23/08 - After trying several shots @95*C I've settled on 94*C as my preferred temp. I'll be playing with the p/i over the next couple days to see how that affects the flavors I like.

Edited 6/09 - Since my offset was 2°C low at the time I posted this I'd say 92-93C would be a good recommendation.
Last edited by JohnB on Sun Jun 21, 2009 10:21 am, edited 2 times in total.
boldstep

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by boldstep »

Thanks for the tip! I will order a bag. Do you like it more that Toscanno?
Btw, you mention it yields "zero wet pucks" -- I wasn't aware that this is an indication of a bad pour. What is the current thinking about that?
michael
God Shot
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Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:30 am

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by michael »

do all the daterra coffees that i see come from the same farm and then different poeple roast the beans and sell them under their name? does the word "reserve" have a particular meaning in the case of coffee or is it used loosely to imply a higher quality; what do people think separates the reserve from the regular daterra 8)
JohnB

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by JohnB »

boldstep wrote:Thanks for the tip! I will order a bag. Do you like it more that Toscanno?
Btw, you mention it yields "zero wet pucks" -- I wasn't aware that this is an indication of a bad pour. What is the current thinking about that?
I do like it better then the Toscano but thats just me, you may feel differently. I only mentioned the wet puck because of the current thread complaining about them. I got the feeling that some felt it was characteristic of the machine which I haven't found to be the case.
JohnB

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by JohnB »

michael wrote:do all the daterra coffees that i see come from the same farm and then different poeple roast the beans and sell them under their name? does the word "reserve" have a particular meaning in the case of coffee or is it used loosely to imply a higher quality; what do people think separates the reserve from the regular daterra 8)
To the best of my knowledge there is only one Daterra Farm. This description from the Ecco Caffe website explains it pretty well: http://www.eccocaffe.com/catalog/produc ... ucts_id=77
michael
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Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by michael »

what do you think the reserve designation means 8)
JohnB

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by JohnB »

michael wrote:what do you think the reserve designation means 8)
From the link I posted:
"The 2007 Daterra Reserve was organically farmed (transitional organic) and hand-picked, choosing only the ripest cherries." Sounds to me like the Reserve is made up of the better quality beans. I'll see what Atomic has to say about it.
michael
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Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by michael »

i have had the daterra from terroir (no reserve designation) that was ok, but not great. i thought the daterra reserve from ecco caffe was three stars 8)
JohnB

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by JohnB »

michael wrote:i have had the daterra from terroir (no reserve designation) that was ok, but not great. i thought the daterra reserve from ecco caffe was three stars 8)
Which of Terroir's Daterras did you try? I've had the Calabria & N.I. & I like the Atomic Reserve much more then either of those.
michael
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Posts: 214
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:30 am

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by michael »

i tried both. i thought the NI was the better one, but both pale as compared to the recent daterra reserve from ecco caffe; i dont remember getting many good shots from the calabria 8)
JohnB

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by JohnB »

Here is the reply I got from Adam at the Atomic Cafe concerning the "Daterra Reserve" question:

"Regarding its naming, it is a little mysterious. The coffee is all from
one farm, but the farm is really rather huge. So they are able to grow
various coffee varietals and use subtly different processing methods and
such to get a variety of different beans that, blended, yield the kind
of complexity one wants in an espresso. Now, as it turns out, there are
in fact differing blends of green from Daterra Farm that are given the
same name "Reserve Espresso." There is only one broker on the East Coast
that imports Daterra coffee, so our Reserve Espresso is blended to their
particular specifications. We further blend it with another offering
from their farm. However, Terroir Coffee (under George Howell who, I
believe, works quite intimately with this farm) have their own
particular "Reserve Espresso" blend, if I recall correctly. Probably,
West Coast roasters (like Ecco) are using another blend, according to
the specifications of their broker. And they might, like us, further
blend it with other offerings from the farm (they grow a lot of
variations there!).

Why they (and we roasters, for that matter) name multiple, slightly
differing blends "Reserve Espresso," I don't know. I am at least sure
that, though there are differences from one roaster to the next, there
is at least a consistency of quality. Daterra does, however, offer a
different "Special Reserve" coffee, that isn't billed as an espresso and
does cost a good deal more. I believe Terroir roasts this, though we
don't. Confusing naming strategy, to be sure."

So it would seem that there are differences other then roast between the Daterra Reserve Espresso blends we see offered on the web. Since you have tried & liked the Ecco Caffe version it would be interesting to hear what you think of Atomic Cafe's D/R if you get around to trying it.
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PBL
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Location: Montreal

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by PBL »

Thanks for the info on the Daterra Reserve and Atomic coffee. Just fired off an e-mail to see if they will ship to Montreal. Been looking for some different roasts for a while.
Vivaldi S1 and my buddy Rocky
boldstep

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by boldstep »

Well I got the beans a couple days back (amazingly, one day after it was roasted!). I waited 5 days and pulled some shots both straight and in a Macchiato. I like this bean. I did notice the lack of clumping. Much prefer it straight then with milk. Haven't experimented with other grams/temp/etc numbers (using John's suggestions). Will see how the taste changes as the beans mature. So far, I definitely give the nod to CCC Toscano but we shall see (taste) :lol: ... Again, thanks for the suggestion.
michael
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Posts: 214
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:30 am

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by michael »

when you get fresh roasted beans and need to let them "wait" a few (5 or so) days, do you just let the beans sit in the bag? opened or unopened? if you plan on freezing the beans for longer term storage, do you do this before you freeze the beans 8)
boldstep

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by boldstep »

Hi Michael,
I would let the beans sit for 5 days in the bag (unopened); you don't want them exposed to the air.

As for your second question, I think it depends on when you will be using them. If it will be sometime before you consume them (i.e. 1-2 months), I would just put them in without waiting the 5 days, as they will out gas in the freezer, albeit more slowly. If they will be consumed in a shorter amount of time, I would prefer to let them age outside of the freezer and then put them in. That's my 2 cents in any case. :grin:

Jason
JohnB

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by JohnB »

boldstep wrote:Hi Michael,
I would let the beans sit for 5 days in the bag (unopened); you don't want them exposed to the air.

As for your second question, I think it depends on when you will be using them. If it will be sometime before you consume them (i.e. 1-2 months), I would just put them in without waiting the 5 days, as they will out gas in the freezer, albeit more slowly. If they will be consumed in a shorter amount of time, I would prefer to let them age outside of the freezer and then put them in. That's my 2 cents in any case. :grin:

Jason
Thats pretty much what I did: 5 days on the counter, then I opened the bag & filled a pint jar which stayed on the counter to be used up over the next day or so. Resealed the bag , taped over the vent hole & tossed it in the freezer. I've just been refilling the jar as needed out of the bag. If I plan to keep them in the freezer for awhile I break it down into smaller portions (34gr) & vacuum bag/freeze when I receive them leaving some out in the bag to age for short term use.

As to the Daterra vs Toscano I have to say that the Toscano was not one of my all time favorites. I prefer the current Black Cat & La Bella Vita to Toscano. I get a nice almond/sweet chocolate flavor from the Daterra with a lingering sweet after taste that I like. I definitely prefer the milder caffeine kick over the B/C which is pretty potent in its current version.

I did experiment with smaller doses (14g) yesterday & did not care for it with or without p/i. In their cafe Atomic doses large (20-21gr) but it fluffs up so much I can't get much more then 17gr in the L/S double basket. They don't recommend the Daterra for anything more then a small milk drink & suggest that it is best as a straight shot. They offer another blend for cappos & lattes.
Mario

Paradise Roasters

Post by Mario »

From Paradise Roasters I am simply mad for "Nicaragua CoE Matagalpa - La Gloria / Limoncillo." Ask them to roast for espresso. It is fantastic. Their Esmeralda is pretty good roasted for espresso but I actually prefer the Nicaragua in the small cup. Also RMiguel used to have his own site with some really high end coffees that were superb but I tried to go to it recently and its has disappeared.
JohnB

Re: New Favorite from Atomic Cafe

Post by JohnB »

Adam from Atomic emailed me yesterday to say that they finally have the Daterra Reserve back up on their website after being out for nearly 2 months.
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