Not many coffee roasters create blends using only specialty grade coffees. Jassen, the founder and head roaster here at Half Mile Coffee did. The original recipe for Legacy was a Brazil Salmo, Honduran Paraenema and an Ethiopian natual Idido. This year our Idido is a washed process, and the Honduras has been switched to Guatemala. More on that later. These three coffees give a specific combination of flavors that he was looking for to create a complex flavor profile, but also a highly extractable combination of beans, roasted for espresso but would also work in any other brewer, maintaining that complex profile.
Each coffee contributes something.
Sweet chocolate is the flavor profile that this coffee brings to the cup. It has a richness and intensity needed for espresso. This coffee has very little bitterness and brings a tiny bit of sweetness. Brazil is roasted medium but closer to the dark end, nowhere near second crack. It's roasted for extraction because espresso is quick, he wants those flavors in your cup.
Honduras was the original now we use Guatemala
Citrus acidity and sweetness is a middle note in Legacy. The original Honduras Paraenema was excellent but, as we found out, not consistently available. Coffee is an agricultural product and the environment it lives in can change, yields increase and decrease every year. We switched to Guatemala which has a very similar profile to the Honduras and is available.
Known for it's beautiful berry forward sweetness, Ethiopia rounds out the Legacy blend. Look for this flavor on the back of your tongue and when you exhale if you have a straight shot. In a latte, the Ethiopia sweetens your milk even more giving you a balanced latte. He switched from a natural process to a washed process because the washed coffees are a bit easier to roast while maintaining the same flavor profile.
The Name "Legacy"
Why is it called Legacy? Italian espresso is an important historical turning point for coffee. We have so much to be grateful for in the invention of the espresso machine and the coffee culture it created. It is part of our legacy as coffee professionals and Jassen wanted to pay tribute to that story and add to it.
Each of these coffees is available as a single origin.
Each of these coffees is available as a single origin. They are all excellent on their own. Brazil is a coffee flavored coffee. Rich and deep, roasted nuts and chocolate flavors rule. Guatemala is a bright, light and sweet easy drinking citrusy like lemonade kind of coffee. Great for a summer brew hot or cold. Ethiopia is a berry forward lighter coffee, sweet and fruity/floral.
