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.

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.

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.

Because of the control she keeps over her coffees and the resulting exceptional quality, Asnakech is able to command a price that is on the high-end for Ethiopian coffees. Asnakech is proactive with these funds, putting them towards social programs such as job creation, schools, medical care, and clean water.

The Original Painting

While the La Marzocco is a commercial machine through and through, it is conceivable that the Appia could be used for home use. It’s a solid workhorse, and it will easily pull cafe quality drinks every morning, afternoon, and night. 

Check out our “Cafe Equipment” section for detailed information and pricing. I think we’re selling these at a fair price, but we will entertain reasonable offers.

On a side note, we’ve created a “by Paradise” section. “By Paradise” coffees are blends that are created to mimic, and maybe exceed, a particular region’s most-well-known characteristics. Like the espressos, these coffees will also have their components and ratios posted.

Right now, we have three coffees in the “by Paradise” section. Eventually, we’d like to have a collection of “by Paradise” offerings that taste like some of the best coffees you’ve ever had from specific regions but do not have a single component from that region.

Costa Rica - San Marcos, one of our most transparent, easily accessible coffees, recently received 93 points from CoffeeReview.com.

“Those who enjoy resolved complexity” are the people who should drink this coffee according to CoffeeReview.com.