What I am drinking now – Hobo Ed’s Railroad espresso

What I am drinking now –

Hobo Ed's Train Hoppin' Espresso

http://www.roaste.com/product/Kimberton-Whole-Foods/Hobo-Eds-Train-Hoppi...

I think this is an espresso that you just have to like if only because of the great name (edit to point out that ironically I simplified the name in the original postto a similar, but slightly less cool name as you can see by the title.  I've fixed it in the body of the post and added a link).  Intrepid51 recently blogged about if it is superficial to buy a bag of coffee because you like the look of the bag itself and I confess that between a few good reviews and a fun name, I decided to order a coffee that I might not have otherwise known about.  Perhaps that is superficial or perhaps just adventurous – the kind of spirit that I always wished I had as a kid and would watch trains go buy and think, wouldn’t it be amazing to hop that train and see where it goes.   Alas I never did it, so this is as close as I will ever get.


Here is a link to Intrepid’s post

http://www.roaste.com/CoffeeBlogs/intrepid510/Call-me-superficial


Now I would not have ordered it though, if it hadn’t come with some good feedback though.


I started pulling shots at around 18 grams as I usually start a new blend somewhere between 16 and 18 grams and then work my way up or down from there based on taste.


I had a pretty good set of shots at that dose, but it was when I fired up the lever that the blend really shone for me.  I dose on the Pavoni right around 14 grams most of the time and this was a pretty typical dose.  The shots on the lever were great.  It had good clarity, and surprisingly seemed to have slightly better body on the lever than on the pump machine (clarity is often better, but body is usually better on the lever).  The shot was all in all well balanced.  


I tried to replicate it on my Elektra today and have not recreated that shot, but have gotten nice shots, just not quite to the same level.


There are some blends that to my taste are better on the lever and this may be one of them.  Again I want to emphasize that I would be perfectly happy with the shots on a pump machine, so this should not be taken as an insult for those, but instead a compliment for the Pavoni shots.


I will be curious to see how the shot progress over the next few days.  It still is not a week old and for my taste most coffees, but not all coffees peak after about 7 days.