Ipsento Coffee Roasters is another Chicago-area coffee roaster I wanted to visit on my trip, but when I discovered I could order fresh beans from Ipsento via Javaya, it was a no-brainer. Since I purchased this bag of Ipsento’s Wildfire Espresso, they’ve apparently renamed the blend and are now calling it their Cascade Espresso. As is the case for most blends, the composition is constantly changing, but the batch I bought consisted of 65% Guatemala Huehuetenango Finca Villaure and 35% Brazil Caconde FAF – Bob-O-Link.
Whole bean: Refreshing, clean, nutty, and sweet aroma.
Espresso: This was a brighter espresso than most blends I’ve encountered. Flavors I got in the shots ranged from tangerine, almond, and papaya! I tried higher temperatures in an effort to get the cacao in the tasting notes but it seemed to just make the espresso bland in flavor.
Favorite parameters for this blend: 18g in, 45.5g out, 198 degrees F, 30 second pull. Clean and sweet shot that tasted of tropical fruit.
With milk: I don’t have any notes in this category. I think I skipped tasting this with milk since it was such a fruity shot, I didn’t think milk would enhance the flavor.
Chemex: This was a lovely method for these beans. The coffee was heavy on caramelized sugar and tangerine. Delicious.
AeroPress: This was a surprisingly rich and sweet cup… thick and nutty, a little minty. I think I enjoyed this a little more than the espresso shots.
Summary: Bright like its old name (Wildfire), this espresso blend has a lovely fruity sweetness to it. This is one espresso blend I actually preferred best brewed as coffee (in the Chemex), as it really brought out a great balance between the sweet sugar flavor and the juicy citrus.
From the roaster: Cacao, malted barley, orange zest
Ipsento Coffee Roasters Cascade Espresso (formerly Wildfire Espresso)
Javaya link to Ipsento Coffee Roasters Cascade Espresso
Review conducted 7-14 days post-roast.