# First RAVE shot !!



## omegabri (Jan 7, 2014)

wow.. Just had my first double espresso using a 10-day rested RAVE Signature blend bean









Gorgeous !!!! I ground 18g of coffee into the double basket, which took 34 secs to pull a 2 oz shot (so a tiny tweak maybe to do on my grind....!?!?) - but what a taste ! The aroma was beautiful upon grinding and the crema stunning







The taste brought alive the front of my tongue !! Amazing !!!









Thanks for the tips on RAVE guys !!

cheers...

Bri...


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

The sig blend is great, I have yet to find one as versatile. It tastes great in just about any type of drink. If I owned a coffee shop it would be my standard-served bean.

That and the saving you make on a KG bag means I rarely even think about getting anything else. I really think the other roasters need to catch up to this principle.


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## shinsplint (Oct 18, 2012)

Have to agree, the Signature blend is my favourite so far. Also wondering what Rave's Italian Job is like in comparison... can anyone comment? About to order a kg of one, can't decide whether to risk the Italian Job. Does it have similar characteristics?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Its a good smooth dark classic Italian blend as with signature I personally prefer them with milk.

Sig blend has the chocolate nutty overtones. I find smoother in taste than Italian iob.

Italian blend darker in roast more dark chocolate less nutty in taste.

To qualify I like them both as latte capp blends.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

I am drinking the italian Job at work at the moment, I have yet to get a coffee I'm happy with out of it, getting a lot of bitterness. But this is from a cheap drip machine, I keep forgetting to bring my aeropress into work.

Just tried it in a french press, and the coffee had a better flavour but that bitterness was still there. There was also a significant amount of fines, a black residue remained in the cup so I expect this had a lot to do with the bitter flavour, it was ground by rave themselves in a 'filter' grind.


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## CletePurcel (Jan 5, 2014)

D_Evans said:


> I am drinking the italian Job at work at the moment, I have yet to get a coffee I'm happy with out of it, getting a lot of bitterness. But this is from a cheap drip machine, I keep forgetting to bring my aeropress into work.


I found it the same in my drip machine. Can't seem to get it right.


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## shinsplint (Oct 18, 2012)

Cheers guys. I only buy as whole bean and grind myself for espresso. Don't know whether to risk it now, can't be doing with biterness. Might just stick to Signature. Any other thoughts?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Horses for courses , if using for Capps and lattes it's a great blend , the sweet ness of the milk balances the taste of the coffee, to some that taste is bitter ( I would suggest this is more to do with the brew and or extraction method than the bean) , to others it's dark chocolate . To be fair , a pre ground from the roaster , isn't going to be a fresh as you using whole bean for espresso and setting the grind correctly . Italian job has a lot of fans one here of people who use it as an espresso for milk based drinks.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

It's hard to say, bitterness is more prevalent in a darker roast, but is usually down to the fault of the brewer rather than the coffee itself.

It is no where near as forgiving as sig or classic, I can say that much


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## omegabri (Jan 7, 2014)

The other bean I have from Rave is Jagong Village. Description wise on their website it sounded to be a little richer - something I'm looking forward to trying.

Up to now though I'm loving the Signature Blend. I've just tried it as a flat white (only because my milk stretching was crap and I couldn't get a nice cappuccino going !! haha), and it was gorgeous. I always make double shots......I like my coffee strong


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

My standard morning coffee is a triple shot flat white, I have been using Rave Sig for ages, but most recently got a kg of Fudge, which I haven't perfected yet but it already tastes pretty good.


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## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

Anyone know what beans rave use to create signature blend..... Or is that a trade secret?


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

D_Evans said:


> I am drinking the italian Job at work at the moment, I have yet to get a coffee I'm happy with out of it, getting a lot of bitterness. But this is from a cheap drip machine, I keep forgetting to bring my aeropress into work.
> 
> Just tried it in a french press, and the coffee had a better flavour but that bitterness was still there. There was also a significant amount of fines, a black residue remained in the cup so I expect this had a lot to do with the bitter flavour, it was ground by rave themselves in a 'filter' grind.


Italian job produces an espresso IDENTICAL to what generally gets served in Italy. If you like that kind of rounded satisfying thing then it would be a good choice. If you like challenging single origins you will be disappointed with it.

Quite why you'd use Italian Job in pour over is absolutely beyond me.


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Ask Rob, what the Sig blend is he'll tell you.

From memory PNG, Indonesian and (?) Colombian.

I love it. As espresso the tinesiet tweak brings out the layers: Rose, tobacco, leather etc


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## Soll (Nov 10, 2013)

I'm currently into Raves Sig but I did prefer Italian Job, I guess I'm into traditional Italian Espresso, it even tasted ok in my B2C machine at work


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

It will do.

Its ****en easy to extract. You have to be a bit of a nob to get it wrong. That hint of quality robust a adds another flavour dimension.

I think Rave have got that blend bang on. (I think Sig is bang on too). I've spent quite a few hours experimenting with blends courtesy of Rob's indulgent generosity with bean donation ("just take what you want")

I spent hours and hours getting ripped on caffeine trying to produce the ultimate espresso blend (for my palate).... but never bettered Rob's offerings. He is a very understated sort of guy, but underneath that is somebody with excellent taste buds, a feel for the coffees, and a fast learner.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

As I said, its usually the brewer at fault not the bean, I'm the first to admit that my coffee making is not even in the same league as many here.

There was no particular logic behind using it for brewed by the way, I just read the description and thought it might be nice in a long black


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## Soll (Nov 10, 2013)

DSOL latest bean selection really surprised me ! really excellent in milk which I've been having in the mornings with toast or croissants. Not yet tried it in espresso form


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

D_Evans said:


> As I said, its usually the brewer at fault not the bean, I'm the first to admit that my coffee making is not even in the same league as many here.
> 
> There was no particular logic behind using it for brewed by the way, I just read the description and thought it might be nice in a long black


A long black is espresso + water (or water+espresso) - not the same as brewed.


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

D_Evans said:


> As I said, its usually the brewer at fault not the bean, I'm the first to admit that my coffee making is not even in the same league as many here.
> 
> There was no particular logic behind using it for brewed by the way, I just read the description and thought it might be nice in a long black


Knowing it as I do, if I brewed it as filter I'd expect it to taste like a long black brewed from *** butts









Have you tried pulling a ristretto from it? With a small spoon of sugar it is pure comfort food.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

I have to say I've had several different types of beans from Rave over the last 8 months and I've been really impressed with them. Tempted to buy a I heart Rave T shirt in an ironic 90's way!


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

jeebsy said:


> A long black is espresso + water (or water+espresso) - not the same as brewed.


Its long and its black









I haven't tried it as anything other than brewed, I bought it ground as it was for work so I may just have to accept I wont get a great drink out of it as it is, although I will try it in aeropress tomorrow, perhaps with a particularly short brew time.

Here is a question - shouldn't quality roasters offer advice at the point of sale for things like this? Like for example if you choose a bean that isn't great for filter, an info box could appear saying that there are better choices?

I guess coffee is all about experimentation though, this experiment didnt go so well ^_^


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

D_Evans said:


> Its long and its black
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Rave do , if you look at their" what to expect in the cup " it tells you what beans are good In what type of drink

Their single origins will have descriptions for filter etc where they work as that .

http://ravecoffee.co.uk/shop/coffee-blends/The-Italian-Job


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

D_Evans said:


> Here is a question - shouldn't quality roasters offer advice at the point of sale for things like this? Like for example if you choose a bean that isn't great for filter, an info box could appear saying that there are better choices?


Rave definitely do - each page says what a bean is like as espresso or brewed. Some warn you off - when I.bought the fudge blend it said 'don't go there' for brewed. Likewise some of the single origins say they won't work as espresso.


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

plus if you give them a call they are always more than happy to help and give advice.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Ahhh, ok, so I just didn't read the site properly.

I'll take note in the future


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## GS11 (Feb 20, 2013)

coffeechap said:


> plus if you give them a call they are always more than happy to help and give advice.


Just dropped them a line about Peru Feminino Cecanor as notice no longer on the site.

Really loved this bean....I think my new rave favourite


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Speak to Rob and see what he suggests as an alternative


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Just to update this on my experience with The Italian Job.

It has already been said that this bean is not best for filter/press, which was my experience.

I have just had one out of the aeropress and it was much nicer, let the water sit in the kettle for a few mins to bring it down from the boil, then into the aeropress with a quick stir and a short 1-2min brew time. Quite a sharp taste to begin with, but with another half hot water to dilute it and a large splash of milk it became a very enjoyable drink


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## t-c (Feb 23, 2013)

My first taste of this coffee this morning, took some dialling in on the K8 fresh, but when said n done, it was a nice smooth , strong flavour much enjoyed


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

D_Evans said:


> It has already been said that this bean is not best for filter/press, which was my experience.
> 
> I have just had one out of the aeropress


Aeropress is still a brewed method


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

jeebsy said:


> Aeropress is still a brewed method


Indeed & though it uses a filter, it's often used more like a press...drip & steeping are both "brewed" but 2 very different processes. I personally struggle with the concept that there is a nominally roasted (somewhere above under-developed, but below charcoal) coffee that doesn't taste good steeped, once you have your grind & time sorted.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

jeebsy said:


> Aeropress is still a brewed method


Indeed, I didn't think I was suggesting otherwise? Do you mean that it still wont be a great match for the aeropress? In which case I would agree... its just much better than the other 'brewed' methods.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Just when you said it wasn't great as filter or press but you got a drinkable aeropress out if it after adding milk.


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