Zoka Coffee Roasters

Over the years, I've really started to develop a taste and love for coffee. Maybe it was my taste buds maturing as I got older. Maybe it was that my job has me starting work at 5 o'clock in the morning. Whatever the case, I'm happy that it's in my life. And as time goes on, I've been able to try a wide variety of coffees, everything from the bitter and acidic to the smooth and robust. Now, I feel like I can honestly say what is my favorite coffee: Espresso

When it comes to a lot of food and drinks, I tend to take on the saying "Go big or go home". When you are gonna go big with coffee, you go the espresso route. You get the boldest flavors and the most kick out of a shot of espresso.



My favorite espresso to this point isn't the one pictured at the top of the page. It's actually Illy. To me, Illy is the top dog when it comes to espresso. Smooth, rich, with no bitterness to be found. Plus, it's strong as hell. One shot before work will get you flying!

As much as love Illy, it's not the only one out there. I've tried a few other and have been greatly disappointed. I started searching Amazon and came across this one. There weren't that many reviews, but all were good and the price was comparable to Illy.

I placed an order, and about a week later it arrived. Before I even opened up the bag, the aroma of the beans hit me and I knew I was in for something good. Then it hit me that I ordered whole beans and don't have a grinder.

Ok, before we go any further, let me just get this out of the way. Yes, I've been drinking coffee this long and didn't have a grinder. I had always bought ground coffee and was comfortable doing it. After tasting it fresh ground, I realized I had been making a HUGE mistake. Don't worry, I've been kicking myself in the ass since I tasted it.



After a quick trip to Target, this is what I came back with:

Now it was time to try my new coffee. I ground up a few tablespoons of beans and brewed the espresso through my stove-top espresso maker. When it finished, I poured myself and small cup and gave it a taste before adding anything to it.

Before I even tasted it, I saw that the color was a little lighter that what I'm used to seeing. That isn't a bad thing at all.

In most cases, all I add to espresso is a little sugar. I try not to mask any flavors that are naturally there. I tasted the coffee pre-sugar, and it was a bit much for me. I then added about 1 teaspoon of sugar to it. And guess what? It was too sweet! So, I knocked back that sugary concoction and used only about 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar in cup number 2. Now I could get a better sense of what I was working with.

Like the bag said, it did have a slight nuttiness to it. It was very smooth with a strong finish, but not strong enough to back you off after a small amount. It did seem like there was a tiny amount of bitterness to it. If you take your espresso with steamed milk, that would probably be more than enough to cover any bitter taste that is there.

Overall, I'm really happy with my purchase. I still think Illy is better, but Zoka is a pretty close runner-up.

Check out the link and see for yourself if Zoka is something you might be interested in.

Zoka Coffee

Stay safe my friends!

J. Miller