We try to roast only what is required each and every day, but we can’t be perfect all the time. We use the left over coffee (most often less than 20 grams) for various reasons: quality control, morning coffee, retail samples, and experimentation.
The other day,
we had a small sampling of some of our most expensive coffees (
Panama Esmeralda,
Hawaii Ka’u, and
Colombia Andrade Bourbon) left over. In total, there was less than one hundred grams.
We couldn’t resist combining them and pulling a shot of espresso out of the resulting blend. For curiosity’s sake.
Photo by: Adam S. Palmer
It was an absolute success. The espresso was light, bright, and relaxing. It was an extremely easy-to-drink espresso with floral aromatics and a cup reminiscent of oranges caramelizing in a pan sprinkled with brown sugar.
This espresso made us realize that we couldn’t keep these kinds of experiments secret. Even if we can’t offer them on any reasonable scale for sale, we really wanted to at least offer the experience to someone outside of our roastery. This was the inspiration and push we needed to start Paradise Labs.
Paradise Labs is our effort to be transparent. We want to let you know what we’re doing, what we’re trying, and what we’re enjoying. Thus, these experiments will be made available for sale. The quantities will be extremely limited (more often than not less than 10lbs), but at least these unique experiences will be shared.
Espresso Adagio is our first offering. It’s the Hawaiian, Andrade, and Esmeralda espresso blend that wowed us. There’s only two pounds available, and we hope it’s well received.
The experimentations will continue…
Based on customer feedback, we will bring back Espresso Havana Reserve for a limited time starting September 2nd, 2008.
