Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsEXCELLENT taste, great price.
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2021
This coffee is surprisingly awesome. I found it on somebody else's rundown of several of their favorite coffees and hadn't heard of Kicking Horse before. This was a list published on some random coffee website, and the list looked pretty sincere and based on real tasting (too many BS lists meant to sell coffee). I'm specifically reviewing the Smart Ass today. I've been partial in the past to single origin coffees, and I really like South and Central American coffee beans, so that these were a blend was a bit of a departure from my norm. The tasting notes seemed interesting so I went with it.
These are listed as recommended for a variety of brewing methods, and I tried it for pourover in a V60 using the James Hoffman Ultimate V60 method with 204 degree water and a medium-fine grind (7 on an Oxo grinder). What I got was a really excellent cup, better than most of the recent coffees I've brewed. These parameters are what I'd already dialed in for my last bean and it didn't need to be tweaked at all to land close to the target extraction time and to end up with no excess sourness or bitterness. I got a good sweet-ish flavorful full bodied cup that tastes great even as the temperature is decreasing. I couldn't be happier, especially since I've spent only like $8 or less on the bag.
I also tried brewing a double ristretto shot in my Breville Infuser (using Breville Smart Grinder Pro for this) which went into 4 oz of textured milk to make a flat white, and at least that first attempt was not quite to my liking, so back to the Lavazza Super Crema for now, with maybe some more tries to see if it works better with a full pull to make a latte or perhaps changing something like the grind or whatever.
So in short, a V60 pourover is incredible but my one and only try for an espresso wasn't quite to my liking but more tries will follow. Could also just be that it was a great shot but the flavor profile is new to me for espresso -- I'm admittedly not that knowledgeable about what a proper espresso should taste like because i haven't had the setup for all that long.
I also bought a bag of the Three Sisters blend. Updating review now as I've tested that bag. This particular blend also made a great cup via a V60 pourover, but I also tried it as espresso, despite espresso not being listed as one of the recommended brewing methods for this blend (for some reason!!). This blend made a really great espresso! I had preferred my go-to Lavazza over the Smart Ass blend but this one beats out the Lavazza handily, making for a very delightful standard double espresso shot which went right into a latte. I think I'll try some of the Kicking Horse dark roasts for espresso next, but I'll have a bag of Three Sisters handy just in case, because it really does make a great tasting espresso. I can't imagine why this one didn't have espresso listed as a recommended method. Anyway, I'm still very pleased with the pricing for this coffee brand. I pay about the same as the coffees available in the grocery store but I get a fresher roast higher quality for the money. How can I not like that?
