{"id":1931,"date":"2016-03-29T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T14:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1931"},"modified":"2016-03-28T20:33:05","modified_gmt":"2016-03-29T01:33:05","slug":"review-la-colombe-torrefaction-nizza-espresso-blend-philadelphia-pennsylvania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1931","title":{"rendered":"Review: La Colombe Torrefaction Nizza Espresso Blend (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the second bag of La Colombe coffee that I’ve had in recent months, and this was the reason I wanted to order from them in the first place: I had heard that this company is known for their espresso. If you read my other La Colombe review<\/a>, you know that I was a little taken aback that the coffee I received wasn’t roasted to order. The same was true for this bag. Mind you, the coffee wasn’t OLD… just not as fresh as it could have been.<\/p>\n

When I buy coffee, I follow two general rules as best as I can:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Don’t buy coffee that is more than a week old.<\/li>\n
  2. Don’t buy coffee that doesn’t have a roast date on the packaging.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I ordered my coffee on February 7, and received both bags on February 11. This bag of Nizza was labeled, “Best by April 3, 2016.” Uh oh. No roast date??? A “best by” date can mean just about anything!! However, I did a little digging on Google and determined that La Colombe uses a two-month window to determine “best by” dates, which means that this bag of coffee was roasted on February 3. Still not roasted to order, but I probably would have waited a week to crack open a bag of espresso anyway, so it worked out. I slightly resent feeling like I HAVE to open a bag immediately though.<\/p>\n

    Whole bean: Medium roast, no oil sheen on the beans. Good sign so far.<\/p>\n

    It took me 4\u00a0passes before I had dialed in the grind and dosage enough to get what I considered to be a decent double espresso shot, and I kept experimenting for another 6 (not all in the same day!). I am not an expert on Italian-style espresso, as I’ve only had it a handful of times at cafes, but this blend tastes much like what I would expect from an Italian-style espresso: dark, rich, with notes of caramel and dark chocolate and a pleasantly bitter aftertaste. It made for some beautiful-looking shots, with loads of crema and very attractive mottling. At its best, it reminded me of a Milky Way candy bar.<\/p>\n

    Favorite parameters for this blend: 17 g in, 34 g out, 200 degrees F, 24 second extraction.<\/p>\n

    With milk: I think this is where this espresso blend really shines. The nutty, caramelly notes in the coffee stand up extremely well in a cappuccino, latte, etc., and made for a pretty decadent drink.<\/p>\n

    Summary<\/strong>: If you’re looking for a classic-tasting espresso roast, I think this would be right up your alley. Personally, I drink more straight shots vs. milk drinks, and I prefer American-style espresso that has a bit more flavor complexity, but this is a crowd-pleasing espresso blend that would be an ideal cafe workhorse and a good template for adding additional flavors if you’re into that sort of thing. I can’t speak for if it’s actually good for two months like the “best by” date claims (I try and drink all my coffee within 2-3 weeks of roasting!), but in the week or so that I experimented with it at home, I got good results.<\/p>\n

    From the roaster: Nutty, caramel, renowned<\/p>\n

    La Colombe Torrefaction Nizza Espresso Blend<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This is the second bag of La Colombe coffee that I’ve had in recent months, and this was the reason I wanted to order from them in the first place: I had heard that this company is known for their espresso. If you read my other La Colombe review, you know that I was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"Notes of caramel and dark chocolate predominate in this Italian-style espresso blend.","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[157,8,3,154],"tags":[26,18,53,118],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/tn_IMG_3487.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2756,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2756","url_meta":{"origin":1931,"position":0},"title":"Review: La Colombe Panama Ironman VI Geisha (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)","date":"September 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this summer, I visited the District of Columbia and while there, visited a La Colombe coffee shop for the first time. I've reviewed La Colombe coffees before (their Nizza espresso and their single-origin Colombia San Roque), and while neither were exactly to my personal taste, both were exactly what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Central America"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/tn_IMG-0663-e1748008076710.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1902,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1902","url_meta":{"origin":1931,"position":1},"title":"Review: La Colombe Coffee Roasters Colombia San Roque (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)","date":"March 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you've heard of the show Dangerous Grounds on the Travel Channel, you might already be familiar with Todd Carmichael, one of the men behind La Colombe Coffee Roasters. I admit, I have never seen the show, so I went into this tasting almost completely blind. The only real association\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/tn_IMG_3486.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1459,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1459","url_meta":{"origin":1931,"position":2},"title":"Review: Roseline Coffee Roasters Catapult Blend (Portland, Oregon)","date":"October 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I picked up this bag of Roseline Coffee from the downtown location of Portland's Barista. 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I never expected anyone else to be interested in what I had to say, so it was flattering when I started getting traffic to this site from people other than my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG-7191-e1560376526280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5738,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=5738","url_meta":{"origin":1931,"position":4},"title":"Review: Intelligentsia Coffee Honey Badger Espresso (Chicago, Illinois)","date":"April 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"During my short visit to Chicago in February, I popped into Intelligentsia Coffee's Monadnock location and picked up this bag of their Honey Badger Espresso. They had lots of really fresh beans that day, but I was curious to see if I would like this better than their Black Cat\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG-6143-e1554254844613.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2750,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2750","url_meta":{"origin":1931,"position":5},"title":"Review: Cuv\u00e9e Coffee Guatemala Hunapu (Austin, Texas)","date":"August 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Cuv\u00e9e Coffee is regularly featured at my local Whole Foods market, but I don't buy it very often because\u00a0the beans aren't often on the shelf within two weeks of the roast date (which is a common situation when you buy coffee at retail outlets like markets). 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