Assembly Espresso Blend (Assembly Coffee)

Photo by Jack Gregory

I like a good name. Assembly is one of those good names that work well in the context of coffee, because it evokes images of groups of people enjoying a good espresso. This is what we have here, Espresso Blend from Assembly Coffee roasters in London. It is an interesting blend whose creators have taken the concept of fine-tuning coffee a couple of notches above the common approach to blending. It's a blend of three coffees, but you’d be wrong thinking that the resulting product comes with a long list of taste notes. All we get is banoffee, nutty, and rich. If Assembly Coffee wanted their espresso blend to stand out, they have accomplished that mission, but is it any good?

My experience tells me that Espresso Blend likes to be tamped hard. Seriously hard, no matter what grind setting. Any leniency shown will result in extraction times under 24s, which will undersell this blend.

Grind setting 3 will produce that promised banoffee note and after a waffle with some orange marmalade, it is as close to waking up your inner Paddington Bear as you can get.

Grind setting 2 seems to be rather undecided, so you may want to skip it and go for the nutty notes at grind setting 1. The nuts here are exquisite–not harsh, but not buttery either with a tiny hint of dark chocolate. It’s at that setting when the rich note starts to make sense. The aftertaste will linger for a good while and you will not feel the urge to wash it down.

MIXING WITH MILK

As promised by Assembly Coffee, Espresso Blend works really well with milk at either grind setting 1 or 2.

WHERE TO BUY

Espresso Blend is available online.

EQUIPMENT

• Coffee grinder: Sage (Breville) Smart Grinder Pro

• Espresso machine: Sage (Breville) Bambino Plus