Read More on Golden Age

The 'Golden Age' - a time in which a specific art, skill or activity was reaching its peak. Now, we don't think coffee has reached its peak yet, in fact, we think we have a ways to go. But nonetheless, we wanted to pay homage to the flavours that so many people have come to love in a 'classic' espresso, all while continuing to push the boundaries of high-quality coffee and new flavour experience. This is that homage, a perfect marriage between the balanced and full-bodied flavours of the old, and the sweet, fruity flavours of the new. 

We want this coffee to be able to do it all - give comfort to those that just need a 'cuppa joe', while converting even the most stubborn coffee drinkers to speciality with it's complex, sweet flavours. Golden Age has become our go-to coffee, we pull it as standard in our cafes, and recommend it to anyone that's looking for a staple espresso option. It's easy to dial in, consistent year-round, works with and without milk and, most importantly, it's freaking delicious. 

One of the most important things in coffee, and this is no less true in blends, is FRESHNESS! You'll never find us putting old, past-crop coffees in a blend, and we promise not to buy 'blender' coffees that we don't think tastes great on their own. A good blend is a sum of it's parts, and so you've gotta start with good parts.

When it comes to selecting which coffees we want to put in a blend, we have to start with a goal in mind - and for Golden Age, that's sweetness, body and balance. From there, we go about selecting coffees that we think will come together to achieve that goal. We've spent a while trying to find fresh coffees that can come together to create this harmonious balance and we like to think that this is the closest we've gotten yet. 

The coffee that makes up the majority of our blend (75%) is a washed, mixed variety lot from the southern part of Tolima. Here, coffee from dozens of different producers is blended together to create a larger, more consistent lot representative of the region. We're lucky that the producers here harvest up to three times a year, and we buy coffee from each harvest, meaning that we always have some fresh crop available for our blend. We paid $3.34 per pound for this coffee, and it was brought in by our friends at Caravela Coffee. We cupped it at an 86.

 - The commodity price of coffee at the time of purchase was $1.02

Bringing big sweetness and subtle, fruity complexity to Golden Age is this natural Ethiopia from the Koke Co-operative in Yirgacheffe. This is a delicious, classic example of a natural Ethiopia, and works well as a compliment to San Fermin. We paid $4.45 per pound for this coffee and cupped it at an 88. Our friends at Ally Coffee helped brought this coffee in for us. 

- The commodity price of coffee at the time of purchase was $1.04

While we do design this blend with espresso in mind, we find it makes delicious filter coffee as well! But, let's start by discussing it's original purpose - espresso. 

- 20g Dose

- 42g Yield

- 26 - 30 Seconds

- 5 Second Preinfusion ramping up to 6 bars of pressure. 

(or whatever you like, this coffee makes deliciousness an easy target)

If this coffees underextracted, you'll get really bright citrus, not a lot of sweetness and a quick finish. If it's just a little underextracted, it will taste quite plain and just like 'coffee'. If it's overextracted, you'll get a bitter finish and muddled flavours. When dialed, you'll taste ripe stone fruits like cherry and plum, lots of chocolate and nutty sweetness, and a sweet finish that lingers. 

When we brew this coffee as a filter, we like to use the Kalita wave, or just a big batch brewer! Since this coffee tastes good at such a wide range of extractions, it remains super versatile through most brew methods! 

Kalita Wave -  

- 26g dose

- 400g yield

- ~4 min brew time

We start with a nice big 75g bloom, give it a good stir and let it bloom for 30 seconds. We then do a single pour all the way up to 250g, and finish with 50g pulses every 20-30seconds, and aim to finish draining in around 4:00. Expect a sweet cup full of caramel and milk chocolate, a juicy acidity and silky body.