Barefoot's "The Boss" Espresso

One of my pet peeves is people who refer to certain coffees as espresso beans, as if beans used for espresso are somehow magically different from other coffee beans. They're not. Espresso is a preparation of coffee. The beans you use to make it can be any particular type. While I wouldn't fault a non-coffee person for not knowing this, I was surprised to see that annoying commentator on Iron Chef referring to some beans during the recent coffee episode as espresso beans, and not just dark roasted beans (in general, beans for espresso tend to be roasted darker than your garden variety beans used for coffee because it mellows bright flavors that can be intense and overpowering in the small cup).

So this little rant brings me back to the original point of my post, which is a description of Barefoot Coffee's "The Boss!" Espresso. I picked this up from their Santa Clara (or is it San Jose? I'm never quite clear on that) cafe earlier this month and have been enjoying it ever since. It's a blend of Brazil Datera Monte Cristo, India Jasmina and Ethiopia Dale.

I found this blend to have a nice presence of blueberries in its aroma and taste. Crema straddles the light-dark brown line, and for me lasted well after the shot was pulled. Can dissipate with a lot of milk, but tasted great as a macchiato.

I have also brewed this blend as a coffee, and am currently sipping the results from a pour over. While lacking a body that lives up to its name, the blueberries are there bright and shiny. Again, the point is, espresso beans can be enjoyed as coffee, and coffee can certainly be pulled as an espresso with great results.

Barefoot, by the way, gives the blend this description: "Dope sweet thickness and chocolate berries con panna. Chocolatey goodness with some sneaked in spice and berry notes. Touch of citrus kiss in the finish. Thick, thick, sticky and gooey. A whole lot of good chocolate and fruit in your cup."