thanks for getting in here. Agreed, again, on all counts. However, while roast profiling varies greatly from drip (even brew style) to espresso, I am always open to the serendipity of a bean falling in that mythic region where it sings as both. As I said, I just have to be in the temperament for a more acidic, bracingly bright espresso from a bean not specifically roasted for such, which I surely am from time to time! But of course, De gustibus non disputandum est. So much of what we are discussing is based on preference. For example, I do not value “balance” in an espresso nearly as much as many people and am always game for a beautifully unbalanced shot that sings two notes of a chord instead of three; that perhaps could have a more balanced “voice” if the roast was tweaked or it was blended with something else. I hold the Brian Johnsons of espressos in as high esteem as the Sinatras of same. Preference – its a bitch when trying to nail things down!

Yes, not all coffees are going to work as espresso and for, say, V60. But some work wonderfully for both brew methods. The key is to get the best out of them for the respective brew method via roast profiles. Cupping or brewing a coffee that has roast or smokey characters is ugly. It suggests your profile or roast degree is too dark – run this same coffee through an espresso machine, and it tastes beautifully balanced and sweet.

I think this conversation is touching on personal taste. My preference is to never, ever taste roast characters, baked characters or smokey characters in my coffee. This means we roast light, yet still ensuring the coffee has developed fully. Brewing on an espresso machine vs. brewing a coffee on a siphon or whatever is completely different. Which is why the roast needs to be different.

Our espresso roast profile is vastly different to our filter style profile in every way. It is almost like 2 different coffees. We will never sell anyone a filter style roast for use with an espresso machine and vice versa – instead we will recommend an appropriately roasted coffee.

I agree very much with what you have to say here. Perhaps it is that we both studied at the cursor of sweetmarias in our formative years, but my belief is that when I get my coffee in, the bean is perfect and my job as roaster is to not muck it up. Because of this approach of wanting to take the bean to a drinkable state without transforming, but instead of preserving its qualities, I can only roast so far before I have to start weighing the trade off. What I mean is, at some point, if I am going to roast any darker, then I am trading sweetness, brightness, and terroir for something that is further along in the roast. Why would I do that? Just to shoe-horn the bean into a specific brew method (like espresso)? I refuse. Not to personify coffee into sentience, but if I am to honor the farmers and their labors, then I must honor the bean – let it be what it is without trying to mold it, like some unruly teenager, into something else. I have found that beyond the cupping table, that particular bean’s favored brew method(s) will be found in testing on the bar. Right now, we have a Yirg that is improbably light in roast and is stellar in V60 and in a portafilter (if, of course, you have a taste for bright shiny espresso sometimes), but that doesn’t mean I’m going to try to make our Bali multi-task as well – it simply doesn’t want to. Could I tweak the roast to make it servable as espresso? Maybe, but I am much more inclined to let it ‘do what it do’ in a pour-over at what we think is its optimal roast. Some may see this as lazy by having coffees that have only one or two tricks, but we just have a more laid-back approach (a really labor intensive “laid-back” approach, mind you, replete with roast after roast, tasting after tasting, and a whole gaggle of Mojos).

So that is my logic. I don’t think it’s particularly revelatory, and I certainly hope I’m not insulting the farmer or you (the roaster) to suggest this.

On your last point, I completely agree on the shades or roast for espresso. It is more about acidity and body than shades – though they are interrelated to a degree. Same/similar shade – different profile…ftw (out of my depth here – not a roaster)