On the same trip when I bought the Dark Horse Odd Harmonics blend, I also picked up this bag of their No Problemo, which the barista told me is their espresso blend. As of summer 2018, this is a blend of beans from Guatemala, Brazil, and Colombia.
Whole bean: Smells like chocolate with a hint of cherry.
Espresso: I pulled around 8 shots with various parameters and I think I got the best results on shot #6, which came out with a lovely semisweet chocolate flavor and balanced character. This espresso seems to work best at moderately high temperatures – too low and the shot comes out sour, too high and the shot was too aggressive.
Favorite parameters for these beans: 204 degrees Fahrenheit, 18 grams in, 40 grams out, 20 second pull (pretty short, but longer pulls seemed to reduce the sweetness).
With milk: This is a pretty assertive blend and it stood up fantastically well in milk.
AeroPress: Smells like chocolate graham crackers. Toasty and approachable. My first thought was that it wasn’t particularly attention-grabbing like the espresso seemed to be but after my initial impression I realized I liked it all the better for its understatement – it sweetens as it cools and I think it tasted better than most of the espresso shots!
Summary: Bit finicky of an espresso but very easy to drink in an AeroPress. Suited well for milk drinks.
From the roaster: No tasting notes provided
The No Problemo espresso blend is not currently on the website, but check out their other stuff (including some pretty cool merch – I rather like the t-shirt designs!)
Dark Horse Coffee Roasters Roasted Coffee
Review conducted 11 days post-roast.