It's good having family that knows you like high quality coffee, and even better when they know to get it from somewhere like Intelligentsia. Intelli brings in great single origin coffees that are always expertly roasted, but I often think their Colombian coffees get overlooked. They're not always as "special" as many of the other single origins, but they're always, consistently good. Tres Santos is no exception, producing a very syrupy sweet coffee with juicy acidity. This coffee doesn't necessarily have a big calling card that will keep people talking other than that it's just plain good.
As espresso, the coffee is very versatile and was roasted enough that it can easily stand up to 45 gram yield shots without prematurely blonding. I typically cut shots based on the blonding point or when it appears the coffee is done extracting, but I found that to be misleading with this one because it would just keep going on. So, I chose to cut shots a bit shorter, keeping them closer to a traditional 1:2 ratio in 27-30 seconds, to retain a bit more body and sweetness, though I think letting that yield run out will mitigate any acidity that will turn off those that favor more traditional profiles. This coffee makes a great, traditional cappa as well, like I said, it's just very good.
Brewed was much of the same story, it's almost hard to screw this one up. I enjoyed the increased levels of acidity and slight floral notes and hint more transparency when brewed versus espresso. I targeted these notes with a 1 : 16 brewing ratio and the following recipe:
- 20 grams coffee, ground medium-coarse in 02 size Hario V60, 60 gram bloom using 200*F water, agitated to wet all grounds.
- Steady pour to about 280 grams, stir.
- Final pour to 320 grams, swirl the brewer to release any ground stuck to the filter.
- Final brew time about 2:45
Intelligentsia includes a great background about this coffee and the region as a whole on their site here, and this coffee is available for a very reasonable $17 for a 12 ounce bag with free shipping on orders over $25.