Brown Coffee Co - Edlina Microlot Espresso, Guatemala.

Finally the second part to the double header. Of course I am referring to the Edlina Microlot that is offered by Brown Coffee Co in two different roasts; one for drip and one for espresso. I was able to get my anxious hands on this coffee this past week and it has been a real pleasure.

A good portion of the excitement for this coffee was my previous experience with Brown Coffee Co, and in particular the other roast of this coffee. That coffee is easily the best coffee that I have had so far this year and if as far back as I can remember into the previous year. The sweetness that came from that coffee was really unmatched, the salted caramel taste unmistakable.

Obviously this roast has a lot to live up to, and it is roasted so that it will work well as an espresso. Now while I found the other non-espresso roasted coffee to work well as an espresso, it tasted much better as a drip that after making a few shots to test it out I never went back. And to be honest I think that is about how feel with this coffee just in reverse.

So lets get the non-espresso out of the way.

I have made this as both a auto-drip and Clever Dripper. In the auto drip it was okay, the acidity of the coffee came through, and the sweetness of the coffee really mellowed it out enough to be a solid performer however it was nothing that is going to make you stop look puzzled and go back for another sip.

The Clever Dripper, I thought was better than the above. The immersion style brewing really allowed a lot more body to be in the cup and this in turn created a richer flavor that I found showcased the mash of acidity and sweetness that remarkable about this coffee. I would say that it started to show some of the good espresso characteristics that I liked about it, basically sweet orange flavor. I think this would do real well as a french press coffee and in an aeropress.

This coffee did really shine though as an espresso. I have been using a dose of 16.5 grams in a double basket pulled at about medium temperature think around 200-202 F. When I pulled the first shot and poured 4 ounces of milk over it, the first thought that came to my head was Orangina. The coffee has a very nice citrus acidity, but is tempered by its very sweet nature like an orange soda.

By orange soda I am meaning that it doesn't have that Ethiopian winey acidity. While something like those African coffees has a sort of fermented acidic taste, this is like a fruit acidity. The sweetness really plays well with it. I actually find that this fruit acidity is shown off better in this little bit of milk as oppose a straight shot.

Overall, just another great coffee from Brown and I think anyone would be happy with either of these roasts.