# azorieblue (micro-review)



## ChiarasDad (Mar 21, 2010)

Today I'm drinking azorieblue, an upscale espresso brand I found at a local gourmet store. The bag bears no roast date (just a 31-03-11 expiration) but the grocer believed it had come in sometime in the past three to four weeks.

It's really pretty good. I normally use very freshly roasted beans so my expectations of a bag this old weren't high. It wasn't as good as the fresh roasts I normally pull, but honestly it was very acceptable. Very good flavour with the chocolate notes and smoothness I often expect in a Brazil, and lots of crema. I was quite pleasantly surprised.

That first shot was from a freshly-opened bag, though. I'll report again as the bag ages. I've come to expect coffee progeria from bags like this, rapid aging once the bag or can is opened even though the beans taste pretty fresh on the first day. We'll see.

FWIW it took a pretty hefty grind adjustment. The grind that gives me a 25 second ristretto with my regular coffee produced a gusher that threatened to overflow my cup before 20 seconds. Still, the flavour was good.


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## ChiarasDad (Mar 21, 2010)

Day 2: dry-tasting, and aromatics down substantially. Still drinkable.

Day 3: aromatics gone. It's just a cup of black stuff. Not drinkable as far as I'm concerned.

I kept the bag tightly sealed (one of those clip-all-the-way-across things), at room temperature, with as much air as possible squeezed out. This flavour loss is just what happens to prepackaged coffee (as opposed to freshly-roasted) in my experience: once opened, it ages super quickly. It's been a while since I had a can of Illy or Lavazza beans so I don't remember whether, by my standards, they were gone quite this quickly or whether they hit the wall on day 4 instead of day 3.

But if I needed prepackaged espresso, this one would probably top my list because I'm fond of its chocolately Brazilian flavour profile. Not that I feel it's technically better than Illy, etc. -- it's just a flavour that I particularly enjoy.


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## sandykt (Dec 3, 2009)

That's a shame. I hate when coffee goes off like that, the difference in taste is very noticable. That is one reason why I tend to stay with good old beans from Costa (here she goes, I can here you all say!) the taste is consistent. Whenever I have purchased freshly roasted beans on line, the coffee is great for a few days and then it goes off and you can taste the staleness almost immediately.


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## ChiarasDad (Mar 21, 2010)

My experience with fresh-roasted beans is quite different from yours. For me they're good from the day after roast (which is officially "too soon" but I like it nonetheless) until about 9 or 10 days after. Quite a lot more than I get from prepackaged in other words.

I haven't tried Costa beans as I honestly have never really enjoyed an espresso from a Costa café. Given what you're saying, I suppose I ought to get a bag and try pulling some shots myself.


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## RisingPower (Dec 27, 2009)

ChiarasDad said:


> My experience with fresh-roasted beans is quite different from yours. For me they're good from the day after roast (which is officially "too soon" but I like it nonetheless) until about 9 or 10 days after. Quite a lot more than I get from prepackaged in other words.
> 
> I haven't tried Costa beans as I honestly have never really enjoyed an espresso from a Costa café. Given what you're saying, I suppose I ought to get a bag and try pulling some shots myself.


The only issue i've had with coffee the day after being roasted and in the first few days is since it's still degassing, you tend to get a chunk of co2 foam in the cup, rather than crema. Still tastes nice, but it does occasionally have a slight carbonated flavour. When a coffee is best seems to be very dependant on the variety, how its been stored and how it has been roasted.


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