sweet maria blends

[michael]

does anyone have any temperature recommendations on sweet marias espresso, monkey blend or any of the other blends

[JohnB]

We discussed the Liquid Amber in this thread http://www.s1cafe.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=679 but no one mentioned what brew temp they were using. Its been awhile since I had the L/A as the caffeine punch was a bit higher then I prefer but I'm thinking 93-94C???

[zoey]

A little off topic but, have you tried the Monkey Blend? I did, several years ago, and didn't care for it. I realize that we all have different tastes. I was also using a less-than-stellar machine at the time, which may or may not have made a difference.

[michael]

i like the monkey blend, but i have only used it with the VII; did not like the liquid amber which blonded on me pretty early and was a bit thin; currently have another blend, something sucro, but have not tried it yet

[Weska]

I am pretty much limited by circumstance to Sweet Maria's blends.

My least favorite is Monkey, Liquid Amber is probably in the first position, but I will switch off to Classic and, less often, to Scuro. All of them seem to work out well at 93 C or 94 C, and I think the difference is pretty negligible. Probably swamped in the other variables, maybe especially so since I don't claim to have most of them under any serious control.

I get enjoyable results from all of them, and I guess I never felt the need to play with a broader range of temperatures. (Also, please bear in mind that I don't have professional roasts available as a benchmark of any kind. So my experience may be a little less--what?--informed than other posters.)

[Niko]

The Monkey is OK, I actually prefer Puro Scuro over that (probably) because the Monkey reminds me of Black Cat.
Thankfully, neither one tastes like a monkey or a cat

From what I remember, the monkey was good at 94-95C on my old S1.

[JohnB]

The Monkey is OK, I actually prefer Puro Scuro over that (probably) because the Monkey reminds me of Black Cat.
Thankfully, neither one tastes like a monkey or a cat

From what I remember, the monkey was good at 94-95C on my old S1.

Niko - You might want to give the "new improved" Black Cat a try. Those of us that liked the flavors in the older (3-6 months) blend are not fond of the new one so maybe this one will be more to your liking.

[Niko]

I've been meaning to try it after reading what you guys posted a while back.
MAaaybe since all this upgradestravaganza is happening to the machines - I should just order some Cat for the following week once the kinks are worked out