CI star-gazes
November 10, 2007 – 2:50 amhaving successfully o’ercome the revulsion to coffee that somehow accompanies cold-weather illness, this blog re-emerges womb-fresh and wonders aloud: could terroir’s new daterra espresso appear any more startlingly flaxen? blur your eyes a bit, and it could almost pass for breakfast cereal!
it’s the new crop from the famed brazilian locale, with an espresso roast billed as “southern italian.” (helpful hint: the blondes are supposed to live up north!) alas, this blog is confused.
a foil-gilt third-wave merit badge for anyone who can find a northern italian roast that’s, say, at least several agtron shades darker than terroir’s southern.
18 Responses to “CI star-gazes”
Ah, but how dark is the inside?
By Jaime on Nov 10, 2007
legit question. alas, i’ve already drunken — and i mean drunken — it all.
By bz on Nov 10, 2007
ridiculous isn’t it? i noticed the same.
a friend of mine keeps on ordering (very expensive) terroir coffee’s and i keep on wondering how this company is pulling shots with roasts like this. sad.
read my article (the taste experience was only about the cupping we did) :
http://caffenation.blogspot.com/2007/10/columbia-coe-winner-la-esperanza.html
By rob on Nov 11, 2007
er, confused rob. your blog post seems to praise what you tasted.
i’m a fan, actually, of the lighter-roasted, lighter-dosed espressos. a local barista is pulling terroir’s stuff quite well, and proving how sweet and ‘complete’ such a beverage can be. the daterra didn’t blow my socks off, but … it’s a fine coffee.
that said, it’s always startling to open a new bag and peer in.
By bz on Nov 12, 2007
quote rob: the taste experience was only about the cupping we did.
If you search through some of Rob’s other posts, he has some good commentary that shows fair insight in sampling of Terroir espresso I agree with.
By Jaime on Nov 12, 2007
fair enough. the only terroir espresso i’ve had is labeled as such. and i’m a fan.
By bz on Nov 12, 2007
“How dark is the inside?”
:) 
Pretty close if not slightly lighter than where Luis recommends. He was roasting on our roaster last week
Mr. Bergami, It’s nice to meet you. Just an FYI, because I’m not sure if you used our Full Flavor Roast for espresso… the Full Flavor Roast isn’t meant for espresso. If you’d like to discuss extraction profiles for our espresso roasts some day, let’s do! Seriously sorry for any confusion.
-Peter Lynagh
By SL28ave on Nov 14, 2007
And we are aware that we should change the name of our Southern. When we first created that coffee it went into second crack…. over a few years we verged it lighter, for aesthetic reasons, as we learned… so we do plan on changing the name of it eventually.
Luis (owner of Daterra) was firmly saying that a Southern is darker too. I think our Southern would be his Northern. And our Northern is close to the lightest esp roast in the world.
I REALLY believe in light roasts. It’s a matter of altitude, ripeness, etc.
By SL28ave on Nov 14, 2007
my only point, peter, was the extraordinary relativity of espresso/roast definitions even within ‘elite’ circles.
increasingly, i gravitate toward lighter roasts as well. thoroughly enjoyed my pound of daterra. thanks for the elucidation.
By bz on Nov 14, 2007
I see, that’s a good point, Ben.
Thoroughly thrilled you enjoyed our Daterra.
By SL28ave on Nov 14, 2007
hi peter,
sorry for the misunderstanding about full flavour roast.
i do like the terroir, but noticed before that most of the coe coffee’s are not specifically for espresso. generally i follow hasbean for more information. they even have a coe espresso blend. i didn’t taste it yet, but will do soon.
about the daterra : on the first caffenation barista jam last year, raf from toomuchcoffee brought along some home roasted ( 100 year old stove top roaster!) daterra he bought (green) at hasbean. we all agreed this was an amazingly good cup of espresso!!!
soon i’ll order some from one of my roasters and i’m sure terroir will continue selling a lot from this brilliant brazilian.
By rob on Nov 14, 2007
Terroir is so third wave.
By Jaime on Nov 16, 2007
Do you win if you’re 3rd wave and lose if you’re not?
By SL28ave on Nov 16, 2007
Blah Blah… Blah blah Blah blah blah.
By SL28ave on Nov 16, 2007
nah. you win if what you do matters to real people. you lose if you’re a hide-bound, retromingent vigilante stuck in his echo chamber.
By bz on Nov 16, 2007
I’ve told Jaime dozens of times that the obsessive insults matter to me. Some sense of joy will be the landscape of my victories.
By SL28ave on Nov 16, 2007
Ben,
Results are important. if you are interested in a few sample roasts, I am sure I can nip behind the counter at two different cafes and get you a good sampling of different roast dates of southern to play around with.
By Jaime on Nov 16, 2007
did i say they weren’t?
btw, i’m not insulting anyone. just stating a philosophical belief. given the impact terroir coffee is having on mall cutomers here in greenville, i’d say its approach DOES matter to real people.
edit: does yours, jaime?
By bz on Nov 16, 2007