Red Brick (Square Mile Coffee Roasters)
Much praise has been given to this blend, all of it well-deserved. The phrase “a modern take on traditional espresso” is often overused, but this is what we are dealing with here.
Square Mile Coffee Roasters are obsessive about their product from the packaging (the bags don a reproduction of an old map of London) to the quality of the beans they use and the uniformity of roasting. You know you are dealing with a quality blend from the moment you look at the bag for the first time to the moment you taste it.
Red Brick is a dependable but never boring daily driver, when brewed with care. When you are grinding it for a neat espresso, skip setting 3 and use grind setting 2. When you do that Red Brick tastes like something that costs more than what you paid for it as long as you keep tamping on the lighter side. If you do, your reward will be a playful effervescent orange note. It does not overstay its welcome in your mouth and leaves you wanting more of it, which is always a good thing. It is a darker roast, but very agreeable with well-balanced acidity.
There is a reason why Red Brick is served in over a dozen of cafés in London and many more in the UK and abroad. If there is a coffee blend that could be a contender for the prize of the best introduction to espresso brewed using specialty coffee, this is it. This blend is a London specialty coffee ambassador and a frequent guest in my espresso cup. What it does exceptionally well is mixing the old with the new. It does maintain the main components of a traditional espresso and mixes it with the fruity crowd in a way that is rarely done. If you serve it to someone not used to specialty coffee there is a chance they will like it and you may have to promise to send them a bag of it.
MIXING WITH MILK
When mixed with milk or a milk substitute, grind setting 2 will emphasize chocolate and almonds while dialing down the orange note. Grind setting 1 does not seem to suit this coffee with or without milk, but grind setting 3 will bring out more of the orange flavour without increasing sourness.
WHERE TO BUY
Red Brick is a seasonal espresso blend and its composition will follow the harvests while maintaining its main notes. The current notes are raspberry, fudge, blueberry, and chocolate; the notes for the blend variant described above were orange, almond, chocolate, and fudge.
You can buy it from many coffee shops or directly from the Square Mile Coffee Roaster’s website (they also have a separate EU shop, make sure you place your order there if you are based in the EU).
EQUIPMENT
Coffee grinder: Sage (Breville) Smart Grinder Pro
Espresso machine: Sage (Breville) Bambino Plus