Bean: Mexico Oaxaca
Degree: Central Italian Roast
Roast Age: 5 days old

What a great pour today! Gaggia MDF grinder set at 3, Gaggia Espresso machine given a thorough 5 cycle warmup. With my naked portafilter, I can see the beautiful tiger-striping, a slow funnel forming, the tamp was almost perfect, a good slow pour of about 22 seconds, I stopped short because I didn’t want to be too greedy and ruin this pour. Full of deep caramel coloured crema, it just lasted forever, not dissipating even after the double walled Bodum Pavina glass was emptied. Creamy feel, no bitter aftertaste, a muted hint of acidity, as close to a god shot as anything I’ve had this week.

For the warmups, I wait for the green light to come on, which denotes the temperature ready, and then I switch on the water until the ready light turns off, with my naked portafilter locked on. After 5 or more warm ups, I hope that the temperature has stabilised somewhat. I don’t have a PID yet. And I’m working on a machine that turns up 6.5 bars, a serious handicap, because most of my pours are basically fast blond funnels.

Best espresso I’ve had in days. And that is comparing to Vivace Dolce, and Vivace Dolce decaf. I think I don’t fare too well in roasting monsooned beans, which is what I speculate the Vivace blend has a multitude of. It has a similar roast profile compared with Monsooned Malabar, a 15 minute 2nd crack. I think I can practise roasting Vivace by roasting the cheaper malabar beans