I Went Back to the Dark Side

In the first photo, you can see the color difference between a light roast from Tim Wendelboe and Graffeo dark roast.

I used to own a Niche Zero, and brewed mostly medium to medium-dark roasts. Since I purchased my Timemore 078s, and later my 064s, I've gravitated to lighter roasts, and sold the Niche. Until now, I've never brewed anything darker than medium roast with my Timemore grinders. Just for fun, I wanted to see how they performed with dark roasted beans, and how my taste buds would react to a very dark roast's flavor profile.

I've lived in San Francisco for 25 years but only heard of Graffeo recently. For those who don't know Graffeo, the company was founded in 1935, making it one of the oldest boutique coffee roasters in the US. They pioneered the use of fluid bed roasting, where the beans are roasted on a "bed" of blown hot air, and never touch metal.

They only sell a single blend of 100% Arabica beans from Colombia, New Guinea and Costa Rica. Beans are sold either as a dark roast, what they call light (actually medium) roast, and decaf. Their dark roast has a great reputation for making traditional, Italian-style espresso, so I decided it was time to try it. For more info on Graffeo, check out this article.

The Graffeo is the least dense coffee I've ever brewed. An 18g dose requires a 20g basket to fit properly. The beans have an oily sheen, but fortunately aren't sticky. I was worried they would gunk up my Timemore grinders, but so far that hasn't been a problem.

For me, these beans produce an excellent example of a traditional, full bodied, dark roast espresso, tasking like bittersweet chocolate. I prefer them brewed as a ristretto, 18g in to 24g out in 30 seconds including pre-infusion. The beans are very forgiving of grind size, making them very easy to dial in. While I was trying to figure out the best grind dial setting on both of my grinders, I pulled everything from a turbo shot to a 75 second extraction, and all shots tasted great.

My extractions with a bottomless don't look like those super-viscous streams that you see on TikTok, but the shots made from both of my Timemore grinders have ample body and taste great. Unfortunately I no longer have my Niche Zero to compare with. Although a flat burr grinder like the Niche might produce more body then I am getting with my Timemore grinders, I am very happy with Timemore's performance on a dark roast.

While this has been a fun and educational journey, I will be going back to lighter roasts after I finish this bag of beans. However, if you are a fan of darker roasts, Graffeo definitely belongs on your list of beans to try. And if you are a dark roast fan that is considering buying a Timemore Sculptor grinder, then go for it!