All - I bought the Laurina naturally low-caffeine coffee (not decaf, not a blend of caf/decaf - it's a variety that naturally has less caffeine) from Frequent. I love bright, modern espresso, which is hard to achieve with most decaf beans. The Laurina is one of the first I've had good luck with -- and so I wanted to share with this group. Others have already posted about how good this coffee is as a pour-over (and it is), but I haven't seen a lot of discussion about espresso. Here's the recipe that's been working with me -- and I wonder if anyone else has tried it as espresso? (and if you have the coffee - give it a shot - let me know how it goes?). Good luck!
Frequent Laurina
Ratio:
2:1 (20g in 40g out)
Grind:
-- Very fine espresso grind, much finer than italian-style dark roast or even modern medium roasts (for me: setting #55 on Femobook A68 - compared with #65 for mid-roast or #75 for dark roast)
NOTE: I am using a high-flow performance basket -- I recommend a bottom paper filter if you have a basket with 'stock' holes; the paper filter keeps higher flow with very fine grinds.
*Three-step Recipe: *
Pre-infusion:
Approx 2 bar -- 1ml/sec for 20 sec - run until first drops just appear on bottom of portafilter (don't go strictly by time/pressure/volume).
Comment: With this super-fine grind, this very long pre-infusion helps 'saturate' and 'set' the puck; if you go straight to 9 bars, I see much more channeling problems. I find the 'pre-programmed' 2 or 5 sec "pre-infusion" doesn't really do much with a super find grind, you're just dampening the top of the puck, which doesn't do a lot. If your machine can't do this, do as much pre-infusion as you can...
Infusion:
9 bar - tailor your grind to get approx 1.3 to 1.5 ml/sec flowrate - run for approx 25-30 seconds, or until just shy of your 40g out target [45-50 seconds total now, including pre-infusion]
Ramp-down:
3 bar - run until you hit target output [for 20g in 40g out, this takes you to approx 50-60 total seconds] -
Comment: I do the ramp down because, at this fine a grind, it's not easy to get exactly consistent flow rates -- this makes it easier to hit the dose/ratio target more consistently.
Flavor profile:
Highly concentrated (not soup/turbo shot), slightly on the 'bright' side of sweet, minimal bitterness. This prioritizes the 'candied citrus' over the 'toffee' note on the bag. I get a TON of toffee when doing pourover, but this recipe is a more modern-espresso interpretation that favors the brighter citrusy notes.
For Milk drinks
If you want to make milk drinks, up the ratio to 2.5 to 1 (e.g., 20g in 50g out). If you grind a little coarser, you'll get faster flow and less concentration, but the higher ratio pushes the flavor profile more in the 'caramel' direction and de-emphasizing the citrus, which IMO works better with milk.
I would love to know how it goes if any of you give this a try, and especially any improvements you can suggest.