Chemically Imbalanced (espresso-jogged screeds)

this week in c-n-c: regime change

good authority: c-n-c’s hudgens has ditched terroir for his regular coffee supply. judging solely by the price tags on the retail bags we flunkies buy off the counter, the boston-based terroir appeared to charge the roughly same for 12 ounces of regular priced single origin that north carolina’s crema coffee charges for a pound. but, you ask, what about terroir’s WMD-like obsession with granular quality aspects like hand bean sorting and plant varietals? and are greenville customers capable of caring?

dunno. to wit, though: the new guy’s medium-roasted brazil oberon is pretty boringly good as espresso (not unlike terroir’s Other Brazil) but coats the molars with a massive, confectionary peanut butter sheen when combined with milk. stunningly smooth and “light” chocolatey, really. worth some serious attention on the home bar.

ultimately, the staple yirgacheffe espresso will be missed. terroir’s bostonian whole bean prices will not. as for the ultimate difference in flava flav, jury’s still out.

UPDATE: “ditched,” apparently, isn’t the right word. more accurate: “balanc[ing] the teeter-totter” of quality and cost.