Molon Labe Spartan Blend - De Espresso Liber
This is our second bag of coffee from De Espresso Liber, a Special Forces Veteran Micro-roaster out of Washington state. I was intrigued by the Spartan Blend while cruising through their website first because of the name Molon Labe. According to their website, this means “Come and take them” and is the phrase that was spoken by King Leonides of Sparta to Xerxes I of Persia when Xerxes I had demanded that Sparta lay down their arms and surrender to Persia. “Molon Labe was a cutting remark intended to both deflate a pompous ego and challenge a culture intent on ripping away Sparta's freedom.”
I thought the naming of this coffee was incredibly unique and was made even more so by the bean blend they used: light-medium roasted African beans and dark roasted Indonesian beans.
It came in whole beans, freshly roasted (roasted February 15th and arrived the 17th!), and we brewed 50 grams on a medium fine grind and steeped at 200 F in our French press. I could tell that De Espresso Liber wasn’t kidding about the freshness from the first bloom. The grounds were reacting like crazy (and still do a few brews later) and gave off such a strong aroma. (In case you don’t know what I mean by bloom, check out our post all about it, it is fascinating.)
After being transfixed by the bloom, I noticed just how dark this blend was visually. It was almost an opaque black, which made me think that it would have a very dark roasted flavor. Which is not entirely correct.
The meshing together of light roast and dark roast beans brought forward specialties from each side of the spectrum. Because of the light roast, I smelled and tasted a bit of citrus in the coffee. The fruity citrus was strong in the aroma and the after taste, but mild during the main sip. The main sip has a medium bodied flavor (a balance of the dark and light roasts) with a hint of sweetness. There was a touch of smoky nutty flavor but this was faint and overpowered by the light roast attributes.
My only complaint about this coffee is that it was a little too acidic for me. Don’t let this deter you, especially if you are a fan of light roasts.
Barista Note: Because this coffee has a high acidic flavor while brewed hot, you could reduce the acidity by making it as a cold brew. The cold brew process is naturally less acidic.
This is a cup of coffee with the strength of Sparta (and the Veterans who roasted it) to back it up. Definitely give Molon Labe Spartan Blend a try and support De Espresso Liber at the same time. They are a company dedicated to high quality coffee and it shows in their products.
Cheers,
Mrs. Brew
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