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Rating: Good, good northern Italian roasted coffee
So a few months ago, when the Pergamino Caffè opened, I got a chance to buy a bag of coffee roasted by Torrefazione Lady Cafè [sic], facebook page here. This is a roaster that I liked when I tried it at the Tram Depot. It was the first time tasting something lighter, brighter than most Roman dark roasted coffee. Since I’m consuming so much coffee here in Rome I buy grain coffee very prudently to not OD on coffee… But at seeing that this coffee was being sold here in bag, I jumped at the occasion. It was also only courtesy to buy something when I had consumed tons of free coffee, nitro brew and drip coffee at Pergamino’s grand opening… where coffee in all its forms was flowing freely among the big crowd that was gathered there. Torrefazione Lady Cafè is a roaster that is becoming more prominent here in Rome with the more forward looking cafes, and from what I’ve tasted, they’ve been able to keep a robust traditional Italian punchy flavor that folks like those here in Rome appreciate, and yet have a bit more subtlety that is definitely very noticeable.
So as usual, I tried to go for the lightest most delicate they had there, and the baristas suggested I take the Mexican Altura Luz Caracol Veracruz. It’s a washed Arabica grown at about 1300-1500 meters. I hadn’t had anything from this region in a long while, so I said what the hell. Here’s the packaging and the labels:
I did my usual of trying out the coffee in my Caravelle Ararrex coffee machine. On opening the bag was very fragrant but not particularly floral or spicy, it was a warm coffee smell that came out. The coffee was roasted past the first crack and saw some splitting. Beans were very nice and could see that they were selected for uniformity. All positive.
Once I ground them in my Hario MSS-1 I got a very nice fragrance coming out of the bean, very chocolaty and again, warm. Very nice.
I brewed it as I like to, on a 90 celcius and the coffee responded well. The Caravel Arrarex is usually able to squeeze crema even out of a rock, so the Arabica opened up very nicely and had a nice rich foam that would belie a lot of Robusta.
It was nice, creamy, rich and the crema really added to the smoothness of the espresso.
The coffee turned out to be very silky, and very balanced. I like them on the heavy end with lots of body, and here I got a very delicate drink with a low acidic content. It was great.
In terms of taste notes, I was surprised by the bright taste that started to appear, but always on the side of the darker tones of macademia nuts, nutty, and then the finish came with chocolate and then moving towards caramel sweetness.
Overall there was a good dose of coffee bitterness but it was in no way overpowering. It was a good balance of sweet chocolate caramel mix. I didn’t find floral scents nor fruity flavors, so very much in line with what Italians would like. Definitely worth trying out. I’m curious about how it would have run in a filter coffee. Will have to give it another try!
Torrefazione Lady Cafè
Strada di Mezzo 5
43017 San Secondo Parmense (Parma)
Tel. 0521 37 1091