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Permalink Reply by Mike Shipley on January 6, 2008 at 11:13am

Al, your confusing espresso with a type of coffee or style of roast. Espresso is a method of extraction. It is also the result of that extraction. You could roast decaf or regular coffee to any degree. Pull it through an espresso machine, rather correctly pull it through an espresso machine and you've got espresso.

The difference between a dark roast coffee bean and a blend designed for espresso is that the blend is specific for the method of extraction used to produce espresso. You would taste the difference between the two because one was carefully crafted to exhibit the best flavors possible after extraction and it should taste better. Both are espresso after the extraction.

Once you add flavoring or sugar you've changed the nature of the drink...

With milk a good espresso should come through nicely.

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Permalink Reply by Spencer on January 6, 2008 at 11:23am

There is no such thing as an espresso bean.
As much as I have tried - I cannot seem to find on growing in any coffee field! hahahaha

Espresso is the method of extracting coffee under pressure; it is the name of a beverage, and a grind-level (extra-fine grind). The term has no meaning when it comes to the coffee used to prepare the beverage.

Since decaffeinated coffee is altered before roasting, you may wish to change your grind-dose-tamp process to achieve a desirable shot.

A coffee taster with a trained pallet should be able to detect the difference between regular and decaffeinated coffee. However with the inclusion of sugar, milk and flavorings there is not much chance as the espresso base has been changed. In a blind "cupping" a coffee taster may mistake decaffeinated coffee for an oxidized or aged sample of regular coffee, as the decaffeinating process does strip much of the flavor and aromatics from the bean. A highly trained cupper/taster should be able to determine the decaffeination process used by the overall character of the sample.

Hope this help...

Spencer

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Permalink Reply by al white on January 6, 2008 at 3:39pm

Hello Spencer: thanks for the response. Customers have asked for decaf espresso. I understand espresso is a process for extracting the flavors of the bean. Roasters sell "decaf espresso" beans and decaf dark roast beans. So, how is the "decaf espresso" bean sold by roasters different from the the decaf dark roast or other beans? Most customers are far from trained tasters and add a variety of ingredients to their espresso. So my question remains one of whether there is really a discernible difference between decaf dark roast and a "decaf espresso" bean offered by some roasters and vendors that the average person could detect? Not such a crazy question. alvin white

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Permalink Reply by Spencer on January 7, 2008 at 5:01am

Alvin -
Please consider this: decaf espresso is the decaffeinated version of your espresso blend, and should taste as close to your regular espresso as possible. "Dark roast" is traditionally a term used for coffee that is drip brewed of french press steeped, and obviously roasted darker than your other offerings, or darker than your house blend or regular drip brew coffee. You should offer a decaffeinated version of this product as well, and it should taste very similar to the regular offering.

Thus the main difference for the two blends is the method of extraction/brewing. Some may use the same blend for both drip and espresso, however I caution against that as the dynamics of extraction will be different causing different characters - to maintain highest possible character it is recommended to develop coffees individually for drip and espresso.

Spencer

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