# Square Mile Winter Espresso



## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

I picked up some Square Mile Winter Espresso Blend from one of their retailers and have just had a lovely chocolate hazelnut hit with a hint of yellow fruit (apricot or nectarine?)

This is not the easiest coffee to dial in and took me several attempts.

The double basket was not sufficient so I ended up using a triple basket and a little more coffee than usual.

Approx 22g coffee, 29 seconds for 54 mls liquid - ground a little coarser than usual too

In the cup the espresso sat well but came alive when a little semi-skimmed milk was added for a macchiato, but also retained its taste in a flat white.

I've still got about 150g to enjoy (6 more doubles...) which will see me through the weekend.

Best paired with a sweet rather than savoury accompaniment (in my opinion)

This coffee can be purchased here


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

Thanks for the update Glen.

I ran out over the Christmas period so I purchased a packet of Taylor's beans (Kenya Nyeri) from a local supermarket and they were awful. Crema was non-existant no matter what I tried.

I have just started a Venetian packet from an ex-Gaggia UK shop and I think I have almost dialed them in.


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## ChiarasDad (Mar 21, 2010)

I'm finding it definitely one of the tougher blends I've tried to work with, in my limited equipment (Gaggia Classic and Zass manual mill). As with Glenn above, a little more in the basket and tightening up the grind are what did it for me. But the key was "a little" - with this coffee I'm finding the tolerances between too loose a flow and too tight and nearly choking the machine are tighter than usual.

In the hand mill this has a very different feel from the coffees I usually use - tougher to turn the crank and more of a crunching feeling than the usual sort of coarse-sandpapering feeling. It feels, in other words, the way a dark roast feels in the mill, though the beans don't look it.

Anyway while it's not going to be my house espresso over the long haul, it's a nice change of pace at least for the duration of the one bag I bought (over at Dose, where they can prepare this a good deal better than I can). And a worthwhile - but not insurmountable - challenge to the skills if you've been getting complacent as I think I had.


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## cold war kid (Mar 12, 2010)

I'm glad I've just read the comments posted above because I've had the exact same problem.

I've got a zassenhaus grinder and found this a real pain to dial in. It just clogged the machine up and seriously over extracted the espresso.I've sorted it out now and initially I wasn't impressed but I think it was down to me drinking it to soon after it had been roasted because it tastes better now.

I used to buy all my beans from hasbean but I've decided now that I'm going on a mission to try examples from as many companies that roast fresh as I possibly can.Square mile is the fourth artisan style roaster I've tried and I've got another six on the list at the moment.


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

Definitely worth trying different suppliers and different bean varieties.


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