San Francisco’s microclimates are a pretty fantastic constant, but we here at Ritual Coffee Roasters still see the Spring as a time for rejuvenation, for rebirth, and for the hope of a wonderful year full of beautiful coffees. Hence, our latest seasonal offering is called Stickball Espresso—our nod to the quiet excitement of changing seasons. Just as the simple pick-up game harkens back to a time of youthful enthusiasm, our new espresso reminds us of everything we love about both fresh coffees and the start of a promising season.
Fresh arrivals from two of our oldest relationships in El Salvador—Monte Rey’s Carrizal and Siberia’s Plan del Cedro—make up the base of this espresso. The Carrizal opens up the shot with the popping juiciness of a ripe plum. As it lingers, a sweet and floral citrus mixed with exotic, tropical fruit comes forward, showcasing the best of Plan del Cedro. To finish this fruit melée, Concepción Buena Vista from Guatemala closes the shot with warm, caramel apple sweetness.
We created our favorite shots using 17.4g of coffee, producing a 31g espresso shot in 29 seconds. Because these are some of the freshest coffees we could find please expect there to be some degree of change in these parameters. We’ll update any changes on our twitter @ritualcoffee.
Stickball:
40% Siberia: Plan del Cedro, El Salvador
40% Monte Rey: Carrizal, El Salvador
20% Concepcion Buena Vista, Guatemala
We recommend starting with the following brew parameters:
Dose: 17-18 grams in a "18g" VST or "17g" Strada basket
Temp: 198-200 degrees at the group
Time: 29 seconds
Brewing Ratio: 50-60% or 31g of liquid
Pump Pressure: 8.5-9 Bar or 105-110psi at the group
Days Rested: 7-12
About the parameters:
Dose: The term we use to describe the amount of freshly ground espresso in grams to be delivered to a double espresso sized portafilter basket.
Temperature: The temperature of the water in contact with the ground coffee in the portafilter. Note that on PID espresso machines (those with digital temperature regulatory devices), the temperature of the water on the PID display can actually read much higher than the temperature of the water that is at the "group" or group head. We recommend using a specially designed thermocouple, such as a Scace device, for checking temperature at the group accurately.
Time: The time in which the brewing water is in contact with the ground espresso.
Brewing Ratio: The ratio of coffee to water. Maintaining the brew ratio is the best way to make sure you are achieving the strength of espresso we are intending. All of our espressos are roasted and/or blended to perform their best at this brewing ratio, so use of a gram scale to measure dose and beverage mass are highly recommended. Brew ratio percentages are achieved by performing the following calculation: DOSE (g) / BEVERAGE MASS (g) = BREW RATIO
Pressure: The pressure being used to brew the espresso. Pressure in BARS is given to coincide with most machine pressure gauges. Pressure in PSI is given to coincide with the Scace 2 device, and is a measure of pressure at the group.
Days Rested: The number of days after roasting before we recommend using our coffee as espresso. We find that after this recommended amount of rest, the espresso will perform at its best. Pulling the espresso before this time will likely result in espresso that is sharp and unbalanced due to overly gassy, under-extracted coffee. Pulling the espresso more than 5 days after this time will likely result in one-noted espresso, lacking aroma.
