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2010-01-20
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Believe it or not, I do not detest Starbucks: if I am honest to myself, I used to enjoy their weakish coffees with cakes on the odd occasions, plus there's no doubt their Green Tea Frappucino & Sausage Rolls ain't half-bad. I shall admit I still eat it once every 1 or 2 weeks as lunch! They also offer comfy sofa's for power-nap sessions if you manage to hog one. Upon seeing Starbuck Commercials introducing their new global blend based on Chinese Yunnan Beans, I thought why not? Bring
NOTE: as mentioned on previous ARCAFFE review, the machine @ home is a domestic type around 1/20th the price of a true commercial-grade machine. The biggest drawback is it doesn't hold consistent enough temperatures plus it pulsates like a Cosine-wave: it's 'ON' for 0.3s then turns to 'OFF' for 0.5s-0.3s, even at Max Settings. The very short 0.3s 'ON' cycle is a terminal weakness as the coffee-cake is not subjected enough to continous, pressurised extraction such as what true espresso's need to be extracted at. Therefore, my experience says that Espresso Shots made from my Sunbeam Machine are @ Max 70-75% of what commercial machines can produce in terms of flavour depth. Its MILK FROTH QUALITY is also too weak, around 25% capacity. >_< So, others should mentally extrapolate these following data for your own reference.
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ESPRESSO SHOT 1 - 94C Degrees Nominal
On a typical benchmark grind setting, this poured rather poorly. This Blend likes finer-grind adjustments! This end resultant cup was thin ashy-water with a mild-acid beneath, although already better than typical Starbuck shots! ^_^' Really poor shot personally, discarded down the sink. SCORE: 1.5/5
ESPRESSO SHOT 2 - 92C Degrees
I felt the beans were slightly over-roasted and unfresh, despite it being a new batch roasted in America then imported back into China! I adjusted down the machine temperature to see if it carried any fruity body. This 2nd shot, with completely re-tuned Grinder & Machine Temperature settings was ok-good, completely different from what one would expect from ANY Starbucks outlets. Mildly sweet & not acrid for once, for some reason I stopped this shot a bit short for an Espresso. The Crema and Viscosity were thicker than expected and it held up, but I think botherline so! The description says it should be Mid-bodied, Mildly Acidic and Herbal: pretty spot on, except it tastes Chinese Medicine like Herbal and not the Italian fresh grassy-herbs I had in my mind! SCORE: 3.5/5
ESPRESSO SHOT 3 - 92C 'Nominal' Degrees, Tighter Grind, ~9-10g Grind Size in Single Basket, 15ml Shot, 30 secs.
Adjusted the Grind and Tamping pressure again, Temperature held constant. This was deliberately poured as a ristretto-spectrum style for fun and testing the YUNNAN BLEND's all rounded-ness. It ended up being pretty-good for a Starbucks coffee, but one can tell its NOT high quality arabica beans as its lacking the desired complex layering & flavour profiles, it wasn't too 'Ethiopian Arabica Bean' aromatic! Not surprising, considering Yunnan coffee is now mostly sourced from lesser catimor rather than bourbon or typica arabicas, due to its versatility and resistance to rust. Surprisingly, the finish lingered enough for around 5 secs. *One must remember this experiment was done on a home-machine, so it should fare better in commercial machines. SCORE: 3.9/5
CAPPUCINO - 92C Degrees
It was mildly sweet but perhaps its my machine's limitations, it didn't carry as much aroma or flavours as I'd envisioned, instead carrying a bit of 鐵打酒 influence. Or perhaps its just a poor base shot, or the barista not being able to make this coffee properly? One should never discount all possibilities! >.< SCORE: 4/5
CAFFE LATTE - 92C Degrees
This unfortunately, I made with a mediocre-plus Espresso shot base. It was pleasant and I would happily drink this, but knowing it wasn't perfectly made to its 100% potential. Milk-froth a bit thin compared to commercial steam wand. SCORE: 4/5
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ALL IN ALL, FOR HKD $90/250g,
THE 'SOUTH OF THE CLOUD' BLEND BY STARBUCKS IS ACTUALLY OK-GOOD.
ITS FLAVOUR IS UNIQUE BUT LACKS DEPTH OF ESSENTIAL ARABICA BEAN COFFEE OILS. YUNNAN BEANS NOWADAYS ARE MOSTLY BASED ON 'CATIMOR' ARABICA VARIETY THAN TYPICA OR BOURBON, DUE TO ITS RESISTANCE TO WEATHER AND RUST. I DON'T EXPECT THIS TO TASTE GOOD @ ACTUAL STARBUCKS SHOPS, AS IT DOESN'T CARRY ENOUGH FLAVOURS OR POTENTIAL TO BLUFF ITS WAY ON SUPER-AUTO MACHINES, OR THE SCARCE REMAINING SEMI-AUTOMATIC MACHINES OPERATED BY STAFF WHO DON'T CALIBRATE THE BEAN FOR ITS TIGHT, NARROW WORKING WINDOW!
I'D SAY ITS NOT AS BOLD AS IT CLAIMS TO BE, COMPARED TO THEIR TYPICAL DARK ESPRESSO BLEND ANYWAY. YUNNAN COFFEE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PART OF STARBUCK'S 'NORMAL BLEND' AS A FILLER, ITS JUST THAT THIS TIME - IT RECEIVES A MARKETABLE 'SOUTH OF THE CLOUD' LOGO AND CENTRAL ATTENTION AS A CORE BEAN IN A BLEND, WITHIN AN ALL ASIAN-PACIFIC SOURCED BEAN SHOOTOUT! MID '4' I GUESS? BUT ONLY WHEN MADE BY BABEDOLPHIN, COZ HE'S PROBABLY UP HIMSELF AND THINK HE'S KNOWLEDGEABLE & A WANNABE COFFEE EXPERT, OR ELSE, HAS ENOUGH 'BLUFFING SKILLS' TO BE ELIBIGLE AS A FEARSOME POKER PLAYER 1 DAY!
張貼
