Roaster Location: Taoyuan, Taiwan
Coffee Origin: Colombia; Peru; Rwanda; Ethiopia
Roast Level: Medium-Dark
Agtron: 35/48
Est. Price: NT $550/8 ounces
Review Date: August 2021
Aroma: 9
Body: 9
Flavor: 9
Aftertaste: 9
With Milk: 10
Blind Assessment: Evaluated as espresso. Dark chocolate, Concord grape, scorched sugarcane, sandalwood, wisteria in aroma and small cup. Viscous, syrupy mouthfeel; richly chocolaty, sweetly smoky finish with floral depth. In three parts milk, decadent perfection: layers of undulating chocolate, wisteria and scorched sugarcane carry far into the long finish.
The Bottom Line: A blend of coffees from four origins whose sum is a sweetly tart, bold, resonant straight shot and a floral, smoky, intoxicatingly chocolaty experience in milk.
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Art of Darkness
Surprisingly to us, several of the darkest-roasted blends we tested earned some of this report’s highest scores. We were surprised because the high-end specialty coffees we usually feature skew lighter in roast (see below for more details). But there are some roasters out there who’ve perfected the art of darkness, if you will.
Top of mind is Simon Hsieh, of Taiwan’s Simon Hsieh Aroma Roast Coffees. As a green importer and a roaster, Hsieh is widely admired for his mastery of dark-roasting practices. And he has unabashedly embraced a darker style across his entire line of coffees, all designed for espresso. His “Bull Demon King” blend submitted for this report earned 96 points, knocking it out of the park with rich chocolate notes, smoky depth, and lyrically sweet florality — the milk shot earned a category score of 10 with its decadent perfection: layers of undulating chocolate, wisteria and scorched sugarcane notes lasting far into the long finish.
Of this coffee, Hsieh says, “Dark roasts require high-quality green coffees to withstand the extra high temperatures and significant flavors to survive. A great dark roast blend is sweet but not so bitter, low-toned yet lingering and comforting.”
What makes it “classic”? Hsieh says it’s all about the basic blend logic: 3/4 clean, washed coffees plus 1/4 natural-processed coffees. He feels that this ratio enhances body, crema and structure, while not letting natural coffee character dominate in the demitasse. He also recommends a spoonful of sugar stirred into the shot, as many Italians do, or a piece of bittersweet chocolate alongside. This is an old-school practice that he would love to see return in contemporary cafés.
All texts are derived from Coffee Review.
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Product Description
Product Details
- Material
- Fresh Ingredients
- How It's Made
- Handmade
- Where It's Made
- Taiwan
- Unique Features
- Award-winning design
- Stock
- More than 10
- Ranking
- No.5,427 - Food & Drink | No.257 - Coffee
- Popularity
-
- 3,090 views
- 3 sold
- 3 have saved this item
- Product Type
- Original Design
- Listing Summary
- Bull Demon King won the highest scores─96 points in Coffee Review's specific theme "Darker-Roasted Espresso Blends" in August, 2021. It's the specialized Espresso Blend Simon made for The Year of Xinchou (The Year of Ox).
Food Information
- Best Before
- 730 day(s) after the manufacturing date
- Allergens
- None
- Storage Method
- Room temperature、Refrigerate、Avoid heat、Avoid direct sunlight
- Volume
- 15g x 5
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