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Beans: Moto Coffee, Red Catuai, Icatu, Mundo novo, Yellow Catuai, Natural, Brazil. Mixed Heirloom, Dimtu, Ethiopia.
Shop: Moto Coffee, Webshop, Bunschoten, The Netherlands.
Moto Coffee: Background Information.
Moto Coffee (roaster of the Ethiopia Dimtu) is one of the latest additions to the still growing Dutch coffee industry. But don’t be fooled; at the helm of this newcomer stand three true veterans ready to storm the market.
Tewis Simons, Dirk Gelijsteen and Willem Hendrik van Oordt are all ex-employees of the world famous coffee trader Trabocca. After years of success they decided to start a new company which would only roast biologically produced coffees. At Moto Coffee it’s a mission to only roast and sell coffees from which everyone profits, including the farmer.
Buying their green coffee from renowned traders ensures them that all coffees are certified biological and to minimize the impact on the environment they roast on a Loring 35kg. What a way to start!
The Pa Loa blend consists out of two origins: Brazil and Ethiopia. For the Brazilian part of this espresso blend, Moto Coffee has used several varieties: Red and Yellow Catuai, Mundo Novo and Icatu. The Icatu is probably the unknown coffee bean here and that’s not strange. The Icatu bean was hybridised in 1993 by crossing some arabica and robusta (bourbon) beans and then backcrossing with a Mundo Novo (another Hybrid bean). It is heavily resistant to leaf rust which allows the harvests to be wide and plentiful which means that it also stays low in price compared to other specialty coffees. When looking at the changing climate, this could very well be the saviour of Brazilian coffee in the future.
Moto Coffee: Opening the package.
Moto Coffee has some sturdy packaging with a ziplock and degassing valve. The package has a bright orange colour and the name label of the coffee comes in different colors. The Pa Loa espresso blend has a green label with a bit of information on it. You will read about the name, the type of roast and the origin. It also says that it is a Biologically/organic grown coffee. On the back you can read about their motto and mission and on the bottom the roasting date is displayed.
I do miss some tasting notes and variety information, but just as they say on the package: “We like to keeps things simple”. So if you want more information, just visit their website.
When opening the package you will see the different varieties in the bag and one of them is roasted a bit lighter. This is not strange since this espresso blend contains no less than 5 different coffee varieties. Roasters often do separate roasting when creating a blend. Eating a I ate a couple of beans where the lighter roasted one gave off this amazing fruity flavour of berries and a light sourness. The others had more savoury, nutty and chocolate notes to it with a little more bitter in them.
The coffee beans itself gave off an aroma of wholegrain biscuit, soft toast and sweet nuts. After grinding the blend these same flavour appeared again, this time with a bit more sweetness and a hint of spices and a peppery tingle inside my nostrils. Lets brew!
Moto Coffee – Pa Loa: The tasting.
I reviewd the Pa Loa espresso blend on my Rocket Giotto Evoluzione R and ground the coffee with my Eureka Atom Specialty 75 grinder.
For the Cappuccino and Flat White I used full fat milk.
When brewing this coffee the aroma that comes off of the brew is that of Pistachio, mixed nuts and wholegrain cookies. There is also a sweetness that is in the aroma but does not have a particular tasting note to it.
The syrupy marbled flow into the cup gets me excited and when its done I swirl the espresso a little in my cup.
I take a sip and and immediately get a nutty walnut-shell and Brazil nut flavour. This at first is full on nutty but after a second gets a sweet note to it. A hint of honey can be detected before the dark chocolate sets in. Notice how this coffee has a velvety, thick mouthfeel which also has a rough edge to it in the back of your mouth. It is the crema that produces the ‘sandy’-like structure and it is something I definitely like.
The acidity is also very pleasant: medium to low orange acidity which creates a juiciness to the espresso when its hot.
After the coffee cools down a little there is a hint of licorice in the lower part of your mouth.
The aftertaste lasts and has a fresh fruity orange note to it that makes you want to take another sip. The dark chocolate and nutty notes of this coffee also pop back up and linger for quite some time.
As a Latte based drink:
As a Latte based drink this coffee does remarkably well! The thickness of the coffee that I mentioned above, perfectly fits with a full fat milk froth. The dark chocolate note really pops up in the latte based drink and creates a firm flavour in your mouth. Delicious!
Moto Coffee – Pa Loa: The verdict.
The Pa Loa espresso blend, created by Moto Coffee, contains a lot of varieties and it shows the craftsmanship of the roaster. To blend so many varieties and get this balanced espresso coffee shows that the people behind this brand are not just mere beginners in the specialty coffee industry.
The Pa Loa is nice as an espresso and has all the qualities for an everyday-coffee. The notes go very well together and I think, by adding the Dimtu to the blend, there is a nice balance between the sweet, savory and fruity aspects. With this I mean that the orange acidity helps give this espresso it’s freshness and just that little ‘extra’ to help lift it out of the normal category.
As a Latte based coffee the Pa Loa is just beautiful. The chocolaty note that pops up is great and really complements the milk in your coffee. Well done Moto Coffee.