Novo La Alondra Espresso: first impressions

I love to try single-origin espressos, but sometimes I fall victim to "Ethiopian fatigue." What I mean is, although often good, Ethiopian SOS are very common -- and from time to time I crave something with a different flavor profile.

I recently bought a Novo coffee from Colombia called La Alondra Espresso. Apparently alondra is Spanish for the small bird that Stevie Nicks calls skylark.

This Novo coffee makes an espresso, that is, you could say, a bird of a different feather.

Using my typical 14 gram dose, I mostly pulled shots in the 16-19 gram range. This made the brewing ratio around 75-85%, which is what many people would call a "medium ristretto." La Alondra produces a crema that is extravagantly luxurious, although paradoxically, it doesn't seem to last very long.

The beans are roasted a little darker than many single origin coffees. So the first thing that hit me -- "like a bell through the night" -- was a very pleasing, pungent spiciness: cloves, if you will.

Interestingly, when I went up to 200F from 199F, the spiciness dropped off. The same occurred going down to 198F. So, without getting too Chris Tacy on you*, the temperature seemed fairly critical. Of course, on a different machine, or with a different dose, or with different taste buds, the recommended temp might be quite a bit different.

I liked the bittersweetness of this coffee; a little bit of bitter, a little bit of sweet, a pleasingly sophisticated zing on your palate.

The body was pretty much what you'd expect from a Colombian SOS. A little light, but decent.

This is a nice espresso. It is nice to see people working with many different origins in the pursuit of delicious SO espresso.


* Chris, if you happen to read this, where you been, man? Missin' you....