# Choosing lightly Roasted espresso beans



## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

The Niche finally arrived yesterday and life is good! Now it's time to go and try beans.

On a recent trip to London I've tried some super light espresso from an EK43 and was blown away by how fruity coffee can be. I know I won't achieve the same at home, but I would like to try and see what I can do, stepping away from classic espresso roasts that are beyond 2nd crack.

My local roaster here in Norway only sells beans as espresso that are roasted to "French roast" level or beyond, so I assume that I will have to go and try some "normal" coffees and see where that takes me. I've talked to someone there last week, but they didn't think that beans would work for espresso before 2nd crack...

https://www.stavangerkaffebrenneri.no/en/categories/kaffe-250g

What I'm wondering now is: Where should I start? What are the criteria's that I should look for that make coffee roasts taste nice as espresso? Are there specific countries worth trying? Tasting notes?


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## GingerBen (Sep 7, 2017)

In Norway I would think it starts and ends with beans from Tim Wendelboe


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## 9719 (Mar 29, 2015)

The most obvious roaster to try in your country would be

https://www.timwendelboe.no/

Not cheap but renowned for quality and I'm sure they would help you find what you're looking for.


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## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

And don't think you won't be able to achieve a cup of fruity goodness at home - you will! I'm not sure what machine you've got but it sounds like the Niche is more than capable of bringing out the best in lighter roasted beans.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

GingerBen said:


> In Norway I would think it starts and ends with beans from Tim Wendelboe


Also Talor & Jorgen.


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## GingerBen (Sep 7, 2017)

MWJB said:


> Also Talor & Jorgen.


I'd go there from the UK just for the doughnuts tbh based on what I've seen on instagram!


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## DogandHat (Aug 28, 2017)

We're big fans of Lippe Kaffe from over in Oslo - we were running their Tanzania through the espresso machine earlier in the year and it was tasting really good.


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Thanks all! If all fails, I might go down the Tim Wendelboe route, but as a starting point the coffee will be around 4 times as much if I buy there and have to pay for shipping vs. what I have to pay directly at the roaster. 5 times if I find a coffee that I really like here, buy it in 1 kg bags and freeze parts in mason jars.

That's (together with the fact that I like the guys here) why I really wanted to give it a try first with what I have available locally.

PS machine is an old HX e61. My understanding is that for light roasts, I should use a short cooling flush and give it some time to heat up again?


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

I've had some really good filter roasts as 'spro so I tend to take that kind of thing as advisory.


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## dev (Jul 28, 2017)

It's not easy dealing with lighter roasts and aiming for "EK Shots" with a machine incapable of controlled preinfusion and a conical grinder.

Traditional equipment, E61 HX and a conical grinder, is made for darker roasts.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

dev said:


> It's not easy dealing with lighter roasts and aiming for "EK Shots" with a machine incapable of controlled preinfusion and a conical grinder.
> 
> Traditional equipment, E61 HX and a conical grinder, is made for darker roasts.


I don't think there's any truth in that. OP has said he understands he might not get the high EK extractions, but Wendelboe uses conical grinders.


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## dev (Jul 28, 2017)

Wendelboe uses conicals for productivity reasons and also uses darker roasts for espresso. And the Linea is not exactly a pressure profiler.


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## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

dev said:


> Wendelboe uses conicals for productivity reasons and also uses darker roasts for espresso.


In his espresso bar? Maybe he is simply giving his customers what they want.



> And the Linea is not exactly a pressure profiler.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

dev said:


> Wendelboe uses conicals for productivity reasons and also uses darker roasts for espresso. And the Linea is not exactly a pressure profiler.


Darker than what?

Even if his espresso roasts are a tad darker than his filter, I doubt it makes much difference to solubility.


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Oh, well - let's see what happens...


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## Cutino (Nov 3, 2018)

Will have to try this, heading over next week ?


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Over to Stavanger?


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

ChrisBy said:


> My local roaster here in Norway only sells beans as espresso that are roasted to "French roast" level or beyond, so I assume that I will have to go and try some "normal" coffees and see where that takes me. I've talked to someone there last week, but they didn't think that beans would work for espresso before 2nd crack...


Tim Wendelboe.

La Cabra.

Drop.

Coffee Collective.

Koppi.

These roasters are all (kind of) local to you, hit the notes you want, and the quality of the coffee and the roasting far surpasses pretty much anything the UK is doing.


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

Or if postage not a probelm then a few from Foundry Coffee roasters, Rave and Has Bean may float your boat plus suprisingly, the odd one from Richard at Coffee Compass ( read the notes or call him, super knowledgeable guy)

Whilst the above don't make a thing of roasting solely "light" as some of the Nordics do, equally there is a spread which makes funding them all the more fun.

You wouldn't surely discount all the roasters that have provided us some outstanding coffees in the LSOL offerings based on location ?

Honestly though, best thing you can do is try a few and see what you like or start roasting your own, now that's a whole new rabbit hole. Enjoying a "light" Guji highland at 118 Tonino which, for the few have managed to get to make espresso with (drinking it as pour over before its espresso rested most of the time) have been a treat on the tongue, sweet citrus candy peel / blueberry and mashed strawberries with the floral element as well.

Try, taste, stick with what your taste buds tell you is good and enjoy the variation









John


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

There's a lot of stuff on here about gear making the big difference. To some extent it does, but not as much as you think. Having running a specialty coffee shop for quite a few years, and now an ecommerce coffee business, I've used lots of different setups. At the moment I use and EK and an FB80, but I've got a Super Caimano and access to other grinders as well. The upshot is that it's perfectly possible to make a relatively long, well extracted espresso on a conical grinder (and on most decent flat burr grinders) - Maxwell at Colonna did it for years with his Compak before he moved to an EK.

JP


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Thanks all of you for your input!

I've played around with the DaTerra a bit last weekend but wasn't able to get a nice tasting shot. I'll get the Sierra Nevada out of the freezer this weekend and see where that takes me.

Am I correct in assuming that pre-infusion would make a significant difference here? There is a special on the Lelit Bianca in a local shop this weekend and I have to admit that I'm very tempted.


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

... the Bianca is here and life on the light (bright?) side can begin.

I played around with some AA Mt Kenya this weekend and was really enjoying the sweet fruitiness. I'm still struggling with muting the acidity, though. I started off with quite fine grind, long pre-infusion (ca. 15 seconds) and 18 g in, 40 out @95 C. Tried another one with even finer grind and longer pre-infusion but that one was almost undrinkable due to sourness. Any suggestions on how to figure that one out?


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