East End Blend (Department of Coffee and Social Affairs)

Department of Coffee and Social Affairs has probably the coolest name for a coffee roaster and a chain of cafes. Fortunately, it is not just their name that is cool, but also their coffee.

East End Blend is about dried berries first and foremost even though you also get milk chocolate and shortbread in the mix. Speaking of shortbread, it is perhaps one of the hardest notes to define and recognise. Shortbread is a bit like caramel, most of the time it is as uninspiring and it is inoffensive. But not in this bag of beans.

What we get at when we grind East End Blend at setting 3 is a light berry taste. Getting at it is not easy though, you need to apply heavy tamping to get to 24s of brewing time. Similar times will be achieved with grind setting 2. The best results with the strongest berry syrup over shortbread with a nice milk chocolate note are achieved at grind setting 1 when brewing time will be around 26s.

MIXING WITH MILK

Best milk-with-dried berry coffees happen when you grind these beans at 1.

WHERE TO BUY

East End Blend is available online.

EQUIPMENT

• Coffee grinder: Sage (Breville) Smart Grinder Pro

• Espresso machine: Sage (Breville) Bambino Plus