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2010-12-05
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The new blend is the best so far at 18 GramsWas just thinking of dropping by and check out its new blend with initially no intention to put anything in writing but the coffee I had was really enjoyable it will be a crime I don’t put a note here.The "Three little pigs" blend, with Mexico, Nicaragua and Guatemala, was as expected from all beans from Central America, bright acidity and clean cup from washed coffee, unlike exotic, funky tasting notes which is typical for African beans. My guess is
Was just thinking of dropping by and check out its new blend with initially no intention to put anything in writing but the coffee I had was really enjoyable it will be a crime I don’t put a note here.
The "Three little pigs" blend, with Mexico, Nicaragua and Guatemala, was as expected from all beans from Central America, bright acidity and clean cup from washed coffee, unlike exotic, funky tasting notes which is typical for African beans. My guess is Mexican (50% - my guess) acting as a base coffee and equal amount of Guat and Nic lend hands to bright and aromatic cup, making this coffee less on ‘body monster’ but a nice and clean cup that is easy to like but may not be tasty enough, particularly those who are more familiar with coffee culture in the western world. The blends after roast (post roasted blend) allows roaster to tailor each particular blend to its full potential and the style at the expense of inconvenience. One could play around this ‘melange’ blend with coffee of different roast level, coffee of different roast date and even blending with ‘itself’ with different roast level, the practice that is common to “IT” single origin espresso these days. You can find this basic blending technique everywhere on the net and you can taste it too at 18 Grams and that’s one of the methods to learn coffee.As a fan of Central American coffee, I am very biased and really like this blend a lot. I get a nice, bright and clean cup to start my day with; what more can one ask. In addition to the citrusy note, you get the sweetness toward the end of the cup and the lingering darker roasting tone that seemed to be a signature for Glory Coffee.
The clean cup typically won’t show up well in the milk unless it was super dark roasted. This one is no exception. Milk drinker may find the coffee weak and overwhelmed. However, give it a shot, it’s a much more relaxing cup than those punchy dark roasted coffee you get used to.Toby’s skill on pulling the shot is getting better though consistency is needed as this takes time. The espresso has a nice and clean profile overall, which is a great improvement; however, there are no layers of tastes one felt like dipping into on every sip that you drink which is very common phenomenon at hkcoffee.com, the roaster, espresso and ristretto at Crema Coffee and, at times, Barista Jam. The milk drink is very common one would typically say very good vs. Australian based café places but I was spoiled yesterday by the rich and velvety texture I always had at Crema so this makes me feel like drinking a ‘watery’ cup. This is not a big mistake or flaw but something one can improve if they like the style.
Egg wasn't fluffy enough and the bacon was kinda undercooked a bit but overall is not too bad.Among all blends I had 18 Grams, Three Little Pigs blend is my favorite though this might not work out well with the milk crowd. The Black Sheep is a rather versatile and easy to like blend I would consider using it as a house blend though some cult coffee lovers may sneer at its ‘simplicity’ but don’t let those people hold you back from trying this easy to like blend. The wild and funky Dirty Duck blend was very daring and has lots of potential to tweak to one of the great blend that will score well at the expense of time. Silly Monster is the blend I never understood. It remained volatile and unstable all the way and I had too many cups of this blends I’m confused what the roaster really wants. A visit to Crema yesterday gives me a hint that Silly Monster was quite close to Monsooned Malabar Gold which was served at Crema since it opened its door in 2005 and that, to me, concluded that the more stabilized Silly Monster will probably end up in the style of Crema, if it’s ever going to be stabilized at all. To me, a good riddance for Silly Monster. It’s not a bad coffee. On the contrary, it’s good but too indecisive in the blend to become a house blend, IMHO.
And there you have it, an experimental café called 18 Grams as it is going through lots of blends with its master roaster willing to take risk running coffee lab on a big scale like this. This is a kind of charm and interesting take one wouldn’t find it elsewhere, kinda you learn and grow with each new blend, like an armchair traveler exploring an unknown land without sweat if you kept on visiting the café on a periodic basis. Mind you that all of these blends can easily beat all those staled imports hands down and should be considered very good.
***Update: I like the Three Little Pigs blend so I dropped by for another cup in the afternoon. However, I learned that Three Little Pigs received lots of complaints about "sourness" of the coffee and 18 Grams just pulled it. Instead, I had a Black Sheep blend. Either I don't know how to drink coffee or something is really wrong with Three Little Pigs. I find this Three Little Pigs the best blend so far I had at 18 Grams. At the point of writing this note (9:40PM, Dec 5, 2010), I'm still waiting for the official reason from either Kammie or Gloria on the reason the blend was pulled. This reminded me of my past experience of Hoffman's Winter Espresso blend at Barista Jam as it was pulled when I went back for me in the afternoon, saying it needed 'more' rest while I think it's just right and delicious. I can only hope they reinstate Three Little Pigs in the same shape and form but I don't expect it. Being an "experimental" cafe like 18 Grams, higher chances I won't see it in the same form ever again... ***
张贴
