Unofficial Espresso Month is over here at World Domination Headquarters, but that doesn’t stop me from sharing another great espresso with you! Let’s see what Zingerman’s Espresso Blend #1 is all about! Slurp…
Purchase this coffee directly for $22/12oz
ZINGERMAN’S COFFEE CO. ESPRESSO BLEND #1
I must have been living under a rock for the past 43 years because until a few weeks ago, I’d never heard of Zingerman or their coffee company, and a few minutes of research showed me that this is a huge company with their hands in pretty much everything related to food! I even stumbled across their Zingtrain website, which does business training seminars. I learned that Zingerman’s started as a deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1982 and has since grown into a company of 10 businesses with over 700 employees and $55 million in revenue! In 1994 they started teaching business seminars to other “small” businesses based around the core tenet of growing through the establishment of multiple, unique small businesses, all that contribute to one another’s success and each with their own managing partners who have an equity stake in their part of the operation. True to this vision, Zingerman’s is a mail order food business, the deli, a bakehouse, a sit-down restaurant, cheese and gelato creamery, a catering business, a farm, a printing press, a candy maker and even a coffee roaster and cafe! They even opened a coffee stand at the D Las Vegas in 2016 and they get great Yelp reviews for their gigantic cafe and toast bar in Ann Arbor.
So again, how I missed the Z train, I will never know, but my introduction to Zingerman’s has been through their humble Espresso Blend #1. This coffee comes from the Daterra Estate in Cerrado Region of Brazil’s Minas Gerais coffee growing area near the town of Patrocinio. A few minutes poking around Daterra Estate’s website showed me that this is a huge operation, too, with lots of technology being used to create sustainable coffee as well as a consistent product. Zingerman’s has a 10 year long relationship with Daterra and receive 5 shipments from them per year. Apparently, 50% of Daterra’s land is designated as Natural Preservation Areas in Brazil, too, and they have on-site school for workers’ kids, as well as many other human-friendly initiatives.
Espresso Blend #1 itself is a mix of natural and “pulped” coffees from Daterra. I assume that means pulped natural, i.e. honey process coffees as opposed to washed. That’s an interesting choice, although for my palate some pulped naturals are hard to differentiate from washed coffees, anyway. In any case, this blend is a mix of Bourbon, Caturra, Mundo Novo and Icatu varieties grown around 1200masl. Zingerman’s gives us tasting notes of, “velvety body, subtly sweet and super rich” with lots of notes of “hazelnuts or roasted Spanish peanuts” and recommends trying this coffee as an Aeropress or filter coffee, too, which brings out “heavy body and sweet nuttiness.”
A quick word on equipment for the espresso nerds… I’m using a Gaggia classic, “blind” tuned to 9 bars of pressure. Accessories are a naked portafilter with a Decent Espresso 20g precision basket and matched Decent Espresso calibrated 25lb tamper that PERFECTLY fits the diameter of that basket. I just got an Orphan Espresso Pharos and this coffee was easy to dial in on that monster, which is a workout to turn even for this medium-roasted ‘spro. As far as process goes, I grind, do a quick WDT stir, although the fluffy grind of the Pharos really doesn’t require it, and then groom and level with an OCD-style tool. Finally I finish with a light tamp and let it rip.
I found this Espresso Blend #1 to be pretty forgiving, getting good espresso in the full range between ristrettos and even slightly past 1:2. This morning I used 18.5g in the portafilter and got 41g out in 27 seconds and it was great! Tighter ratios give more body and crema, but this is a very forgiving espresso compared to many I’ve tried.
True to Zingerman’s word, this is a nutty, chocolatey, traditional style of espresso. On the KC Coffee Geek spectrum of espresso from traditional (Roman cafe style) to modern (super bright, super fruity single origins roasted light), this definitely lands on the traditional end of things, but without the inherenent dysfunctional qualities of Roman street ‘spro. Even at higher ratios this espresso has a nice body to it and always produces a pretty looking crema. I’m not a milk-drinking household for the most part, but it’s easy for me to tell that this espresso works great with milk-based drinks of all sizes. As the coffee cools in the demitasse, I’m rewarded with a tighter, more syrupy body and mouthfeel. Flavors are all about chocolates and nuts. After a good stir I get lots of bittersweet notes from a dark chocolate or cocoa. Pecans, almonds and hazelnuts all come through in the flavors and there is some balance from acidity, but nothing fruity that I could really hang my hat on. This is about as nutty and chocolatey with as little fruit as an espresso can get. Toward the end of my cup, the heavier-feeling coffee seems sweeter and more milk chocolatey.
I was a little surprised to see this coffee come in at $22/12oz, which for a Brazilian espresso blend seems a little high in my opinion, but I also have no idea what the purchase prices are like for green coffee from Daterra. I just know a lot of espresso blends come in around the $14-$16 mark, so $22 for a blend registered as being on the high side, comparatively. It looks like Zingerman’s ships in flat rate boxes for $11, so the buyers are definitely encouraged to buy as much as they can to load that box up, which is not a bad sales tactic!
Zingerman’s Espresso Blend #1 is a big win for espresso lovers looking for that Italian traditional flavor profile but without the bitterness that often comes with it. Third Wave fruit/bright seekers will not find what they are looking for this this espresso, but there are many big, fruity ‘spros out there for you and doing a good, traditional type of espresso that remains sweet and balanced is not as easy as it sounds. Great job to the Zingerman’s crew on this one!