“A lighter-roasted version of the Mocha-Java blend with authenticity yet clarity” topped the monthly review, beating all other entries by at least 2 points. Romance received a 94. 

We just sold the last of our Kenya - Wagamuga.

But, we should have a new Kenya coffee arriving in a few weeks. Keep a watch out for that.

If you can’t wait though, you might want to try our Burundi - Bwayi.

We’re looking for a part-time production roaster/order processor – an operations assistant if you will.

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM (that’s an estimate and the times will vary), you will roast coffee for our wholesale and retail customers, bag said coffee, and prepare orders for shipment.

We need someone who’s willing and capable of maintaining the highest of quality standards while adhering to standard operating procedures.

Whomever we hire will be asked to participate in cuppings as we search for the world’s best coffees and perfect the roast profiles for these coffees.  

If interested, please send your resume to jobs@paradiseroasters.com.

Let us know what you think.

This is definitely a machine built for lower dosed espressos. The tamper that comes with the machine doesn’t fully tamp the puck at 18 grams or higher. The shape of the basket flares out as it gets closer to the top of the portafilter, so that the tamper that fit perfectly at 15 grams doesn’t cover the entire puck at the higher dose. Maybe Dalla Corte is making a statement here?

With that said, this is the kind of machine that I would love to have in all of our wholesale clients’ cafes. The control that we (the roaster) could have over how our espressos are pulled is quite nice. The Online Control System basically lets us set the brewing parameters from our roastery, so we can monitor the machine, and ultimately the espresso, whenever we want.

If we know our espresso tastes best at 201 degrees, we could set it at that. Of course, there’s a lot of other factors that could change that, so we’d still need to keep cafe-roaster communication open, but seeing a brew temp of 213 degrees would tell us something isn’t right. Maybe the cafe is just experimenting, or maybe the cafe is burning the coffee because that’s what they thought espresso was supposed to taste like.

Or if there was a client complaining about the taste of the espresso, we could see when the machine was last cleaned (two weeks ago), even though the client swore it was cleaned last night.

This sounds a bit like we’re distrustful, power hungry roasters, but that’s not true, not entirely anyway. It’s more about information and getting a clearer story about our coffee outside of the roastery. We can’t personally visit most of our cafes, so this gives us a clearer picture.

Beyond the OCS, the machine’s design is well thought out, especially the internals. They are spaced in such a way that it’s easy to service, or just explore the guts. 

Steaming is very consistent. I prefer the Evolution over our La Marzocco GB/5. I don’t know what La Marzocco did, but the last upgrade they performed on the steam made it terribly touchy and wet. Milk steamed on the Evolution just holds up better over a longer period of time. 

I do wish the groupheads didn’t drip for as long as they do (maybe a few seconds) after a preflush. I’d prefer to turn on the grouphead for the preflush, turn it off, and lock the portafilter into place, but I find myself waiting for a few seconds until the drips cease. It’s a minor annoyance.

Another minor annoyance is the grade of the drip tray. It doesn’t seem steep enough to adequately drain the tray, so there’s pools of water, espresso, and coffee grounds sitting in various spots along the tray. For a machine that is so clean and streamlined, I wish the drip tray left nothing to sit and collect. It doesn’t look clean.  

I really like the independent brewheads. You can set them at different temperatures, clean one while pulling a shot with the other, or turn one off completely. It’s a nice option to have.