Friday, October 30, 2015

Kenya Nyeri Thageini AA

John Says...

This Kenyan is one of the best coffees I have had the pleasure of roasting this year. It will be available on siphon and as whole bean.



Thageini is part of the Aghuti Cooperative Farmers Society and is one of the washing stations producing consistently excellent coffee. This crop was purchased direct, not through the Kenyan auction, so a higher price was paid by our buyer so they would not risk losing this crop.



In the cup it's fruit punch aromatics with pink grapefruit, and raw sugar punctuated by plum, grape juice, and pineapple as it cools, with just a subtle hint of cinnamon. Phenomenal.

The recent crop of Kenyan coffees has been outstanding, so you can look forward to several more offerings in the coming weeks. 

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Espresso: Building a Foundation

John says...

Roasting as a professional is a craft I do my best to approach in a thoughtful manner. There are too few coffee roasters who approach from the perspective of:  skill+knowledge+time = craft development. Most roasters seem to approach from the perspective of : green coffee+heat+time = brown coffee. brown coffee = "I am a roaster!" This distorted perception is not a reality, and is one of the most deceptive practices perpetuated throughout our industry.

I've been roasting for ten years now, and although we are a small roaster, we roast 40 or more different espresso every year, all consisting of usually 2-3 coffees, and we never repeat a blend. This is in conjunction with roasting about 50-60 strictly SO coffees throughout the year for whole bean and siphon coffee at our shop.


Many customers have said there is something unique to our espresso that they don't experience anywhere else, and I think that's true for every roaster who has found their voice and wants to communicate something to their customers. Espresso has a language of its own, it speaks to your senses and it speaks to your heart, but it has to start somewhere.

What coffees? What percentages? What profiles?

Those are all good questions.

The higher quality your green, the greater ability you have to construct a great espresso blend from a few components. I personally like blends more than SO espresso for two reasons, 1) not every coffee works as an espresso and 2) you will run out of said coffee too fast. As I mentioned before, I prefer using two or three component coffees for our espresso, more coffees than that and they start to get lost in the mix.

We do not use filler or commodity coffees for our espresso. All coffee we roast is above Specialty Grade, so as components they each have a wealth of complexity to draw on. I start with two different premises, one is a base component with highlights or accent notes from one or two other coffees. And the other is from a synergestic perspective of the component beans coming together to create a flavor (or flavors) greater than those of the individual beans.


Having a base coffee does not necessarily mean that will be the highest percentage in a blend, but it does mean that particular coffee will have the most dominant flavor. The greater familiarity you have with each coffee and how their flavors manifest in the espresso extraction process, the greater chance you have of creating a wonderful espresso blend.

This is how I would advise a new roaster to begin the active process of creating a great espresso blend: Start with five, ten, or twenty coffees. Roast, brew as coffee, and taste. Take notes. Now brew each coffee as an espresso and compare the differences in specific flavors to those from your coffee notes, paying close attention to which flavors have intensified from the espresso extraction method. This way you can understand how the extraction process changes, highlights, and reveals those unique characteristics. This is a starting point. Repeat the process for those same coffees with a different profile. Do this again and again and again until you have a feel for how each new coffee will act as an espresso.

Always roast components separately.

You will want to understand the tendencies of different bean densities and how they work together. What about SHB, maybe soft beans or Pacamara or Margogype, or peaberry? How does an Ethiopian peaberry roast compared to a Central American peaberry, and how do each work as a component of espresso? Continue building your knowledge base, know what profiles work best with what coffees, know how profiles should change for a Central American paired with a Brazilian vs one paired with a dry-processed Ethiopian.

Begin blending those coffees. If you started with twenty coffees, that will give you 380 two bean blend permutations and 6,840 three bean blend combinations. And quite a bit more once you factor in the varying percentage possibilities. That's a lot of tasting!


Do this for the next twenty coffees, and so on and so forth. Again. And again. And. Again.
After thousands of tastings, notes, profiles, and blend possibilities you will have a firm grasp of the basics. Now, with a solid foundation, you are ready to begin.

With each new roast, I seek to learn something new, and develop my craft. I hope you will do the same.

Happy roasting!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

It's been 11 Years

Sunday family selfie time! 😃 #21months #familyselfie


This season is 11 years since we opened our little coffee shop. We have met many wonderful people over the years. We've seen children grow into adults and high school sweethearts become husband and wife. We've shared birthdays, holidays, rainy days, and weddings. But it is the drinks we make that allow us to thank you every day.

It is a privilege to make you smile, and we are honored you are part of our lives. We all look forward to a terrific year twelve!


with love, 

-- John, Yiching, and Alex


Sunday, September 06, 2015

Costa Rica Chirripo -- Finca Jonny

Warm days are siphon days, too! #singleorigin #siphoncoffee #caffedbolla #slc #coffee #roaster


Finca Jonny is a 7-hectare family-run farm in the La Piedra de Rivas region of a National Park zone called Chirripo in a hidden corner of Costa Rica. Jonny (of Finca Jonny) decided to build a micromill and a greenhouse on the farm for processing and screen drying. The results are outstanding and the investment shines in the cup.

In the cup it's grape jelly, blackberry, and plum juice with a touch of coconut lil and snappy acidity to hold it all together.

Try it On Siphon while it's available!


Kenya Kirinyaga Kiangoi AB

Yiching says-- 

It's been quite busy at the shop, and John's been roasting a lot. There are many new coffees this season that John's been putting up on the shelves and also featuring on our siphon coffee menu. I, however, have not been at the shop much and therefore haven't been posting much about these coffees... but here I am, determined to post more and tell you more about some of the most popular beans we're offering at caffe d'bolla.

Lots of coffee roasting on this cool and rainy day. Come pick up some beans! #singleorigin #coffeebeans #coffeeroaster #caffedbolla #slc #coffee #roaster


And this post is about a super delicious African coffee-- Kenya Kirinyaga Kiangoi AB.

Kiangoi is a coffee mill in Kenya. It is one of he processing stations of the Rung'eto Farmers Cooperative Society. While we like estate coffees, sometimes the quality from certain co-ops is superior. In a cooperative, each member is tending to only 200-500 trees on less than a hectare, as opposed to a huge estate that uses agribusiness growing methods. This more "personal" attention is reflected in the cup. Outstanding!

In the cup it's grape, mango, mulling spices, and vanilla bean with a refreshing apple acidity.

Come pick up a bag before it's done for the season!

Friday, September 04, 2015

Best Bean to Brew

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We are honored to be named "Best Bean to Brew" in Best of the Beehive award from Salt Lake Magazine.

"We got lotsa coffee shops and lotsa roasters, but the best place to get a cup of locally roasted coffee is Caffe d'Bolla..."

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Thank you so much!

Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Best of State winner

caffe d'bolla is named Best of State again this year. Thank you, and yay! ❤☕ #caffedbolla #slc #coffee #roaster #bestofstate

caffe d'bolla is named Best of State again this year. Thank you, and yay!

Friday, August 21, 2015

Drink that Small Latte

Yiching says -- 

You probably know by now that the espresso at caffe d'bolla is ever-changing depending on what's in season and what John thinks would work together when he roasts. I haven't been able to be at the shop as much as I'd like to, but I try to make it in enough to taste each espresso he creates. I also miss pulling shots and busting out lattes after lattes day in and day out before baby Alex arrived. I am hoping to help out at the shop more often so John doesn't have to be at the shop all by himself too much, plus I miss seeing the beautiful faces of our friends and customers...

Anyhow, here are a few small lattes I made with John's various delicious espressos since I last posted.


Have you had your d'bolla today? 
Easy as Pie is On Tap! #espresso #latteart #caffedbolla #kvdw #slc 
#coffee #kvdwspirit

 Easy as Pie is On Tap! Have you tried it? #espresso #latteart #caffedbolla #cappuccino #slc #coffee
A small latte made with Easy as Pie espresso.

NEW ESPRESSO! Berry Berry, Quite Contrary - grape and ripe berry with vanilla sugar sweetness and dark plum in the finish. Yum! #espresso #latteart #caffedbolla #slc #coffee

 Come have a delicious latte made with Berry Berry, Quite Contrary espresso today! #espresso #latteart #caffedbolla #slc #coffee #roaster
Small latte made with Berry Berry, Quite Contrary espresso.

 Mid-Morning Market is On Tap. Have some today! #espresso #latteart #caffedbolla #cappuccino #slc #coffee #roaster
A small to-go latte made with Mid-Morning Market espresso.

Come and have a delicious small latte today. Totally Terrific and Tasty Toast espresso is On Tap! #espresso #latteart #caffedbolla #slc #coffee #roaster
Small latte made with Totally Terrific and Tasty Toast espresso.



Come have a yummy small latte at caffe d'bolla today!


Friday, March 20, 2015

A Post about Our Recent Espresso

Someone kindly reminded us that we had not updated our blog for a LONG time. The fact is, with Alex keeping us extra busy, posting updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram has been our main "outlet" for letting people know what we've been up to at the shop. However, we remember how fun it had been to blog, and we are determined to start blogging frequently!

In this post we're going to showcase a few of our espresso from the shop since we last poasted. John still roasts a few times a week, and offers a new espresso every 7-10 days. (Yes, we're still doing about 45 different espresso a year!)

Dance of the Purple Penguin is On Tap. Come have a shot! #espresso #caffedbolla #kvdw #slc
"Dance of the Purple Penguin" espresso.


The Agreeable German espresso is On Tap. Come have some! #espresso #coffee #caffedbolla #slc
"The Agreeable German" espresso.


Wagging Tails and Chasing Quails espresso is On Tap. Come have some! #espresso #kvdw #caffedbolla #slc
"Wagging Tails and Chasing Quails" espresso.


Did you get your espresso from caffe d'bolla yet? "Top of the ninth, bases loaded." is On Tap! #espresso #kvdw #caffedbolla #slc
"Top of the ninth, bases loaded." espresso.


Have you tasted "Warm smile, soft blanket, and a box of popcorn" espresso? It's freaky good! #espresso #coffee #kvdw #caffedbolla #slc
"Warm smile, soft blanket, and a box of popcorn" espresso.


Have you had "Eight Paws, two hands, and one cookie" espresso yet? Dark berry, mango puree, toffee sweetness, and cocoa nibs in the finish. So good! #espresso #caffedbolla #kvdw #slc
"Eight paws, two hands, and one cookie" espresso.


Start your Saturday right with an espresso. Whispering Snowflakes is On Tap! #espresso #kvdw #caffedbolla #slc #coffee
"Whispering Snowflakes" espresso.


NEW ESPRESSO! Morning in the Marais - apricot,  caramel, and apple with a sweet berry finish. Come try it! #espresso #caffedbolla #kvdw #slc #coffee
"Morning in the Marais" espresso.


This espresso finally got a name! Yokohama Bay - buttered almond and brown sugar w/ stone fruit and berry in the finish. On Tap now! #espresso #caffedbolla #kvdw #kvdwspirit #slc #coffee
"Yokohama Bay" espresso.


Happy Monday! Have a tasty espresso! Smooth Red Leather is On Tap. #espresso #caffedbolla #kvdw #kvdwspirit #slc #coffee
"Smooth Red Leather" espresso.


NEW ESPRESSO! Easy as Pie - baked apple and brown sugar, w/ peach highlights, & a black cherry finish. Come try it! #espresso #caffedbolla #kvdw #kvdwspirit #slc #coffee
"Easy as Pie" espresso.


Come have an espresso today!