Kicking Horse Coffee Review

Cliffhanger Espresso Kicking Horse Coffee Review

Kicking Horse Cliff Hanger Espresso is as the name indicates it a blend created for the espresso coffee lovers. That’s not to say you can’t use it for other brewing methods, literally, we are creating the fantastic Turkish coffee with these beans. I tried it a couple of times in my Aeropress and it is an awesome. Forget the name, these beans are very versatile, and you can utilize them for any brew that needs a medium roast.

The beans in this blend are selected from three continents, America, Asia, and Africa. The Central American beans impart the specific acidity, which is excellent for an espresso coffee, if it’s limited. The African beans, (Ethiopian we hear), give your espresso blend the fruity tones, and tone down the overall acidity. Finally, the body of this incredible blend comes from the Indonesian sourced beans.

The blend does not focus on crema volume. You will get many it, don’t get me wrong, but there are other espresso beans with more crema. This blend focuses on taste and body. You will get overwhelmed with the whole range of specific espresso aromas, a bright start, continued by cocoa and fruity middle tones, and finished with a heavy caramel taste. The espresso coffee crafted with Kicking Horse Cliff Hanger is really smooth however extremely distinctive at the same time. No bitterness, basically a little acidity, and no burnt aftertaste as with Starbucks beans.

It is a strong coffee, and as vague as this sounds, it is true. Some people define strong coffee as dark roasted, some think that full-bodied coffee is stronger, and some measure the strength by the amount of caffeine content. I don’t have a way to measure the caffeine content, but I can tell you that Cliffhanger Espresso does its job pretty well, of kicking in in the morning when I need it. As for the body, it has a full body, that’s why I like to utilize it for my occasional Turkish brew. The roast is not really dark, but espresso roasts can’t be too dark.

I experimented a lot with this blend, and I found that the best results when pulling a shot are with a mildly finer grind than my other favorites. The shot will be pulled slower than the typical, however you get the richest taste and the many crema. The beans in Cliff Hanger espresso are slightly denser than the typical beans, and they are smaller in size than a lot of other espresso blends.

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Kicking Horse Cliff Hanger Espresso

Cliff Hanger espresso is one of my favorite blends, however this might not be for everyone. The beans are on the oily side, this implies that not all grinding machines will “like” these beans. They are definitely not for an automatic espresso machine. Do not buy them for a super automatic espresso coffee machine, because they will clog the grinding machine.

You need to play with the grinding size since these beans are slightly denser than your normal. You might need to tweak your tamping as well. (I understand it is against the rules of pulling excellent shots, but this blend is finicky.)

Despite these shortcomings, this is one of my favorite espresso blends. The taste and the aroma of a shot pulled from Cliff Hanger brews it up for everything else, and once you got your first decent shot, you’ll never want to buy any other beans. When you get the wonderful shot, it will alter your perspective about espresso.

If you already tried Kicking Horse’s “Cliff Hanger”, and you want to explore more espresso blends, check our post about Six Incredible Espresso Coffee Beans. I list there some of my favorite beans for espresso.

Kick Ass Dark Roast Kicking Horse Coffee

Kick Ass Dark roast are some of the darkest roasted beans that I have used. I normally am not a fan of darker roasted beans, because the more you roast beans the more you lose any trace of the bean personality, and you get instead a predictable dark roast taste. I was, but, extremely curious to understand the hype around an incredibly dark roast, (Spanish roast), and to see why people rated this blend so overwhelmingly well.

A dark roast has a few advantages, and the interest is legitimate. To start with, darker roasted beans are easier on the stomach, and for people with an upset stomach from coffee, guzzling an incredibly dark roasted blend is the difference between pain and pleasure. Secondly, dark roasted beans are bolder, because of the content of soluble solids. In a dark roast there are more ashes, and these dissolve easier in water.

The problem with really dark roasts is that you almost always get the burnt issue aftertaste. I absolutely dislike the smoke taste in my coffee, and this is one of the reasons I never go to Starbucks, and I don’t like their beans. Hat off for their marketing skills, nevertheless their coffee sucks. This is where Kick Ass Dark Roast impressed me.

As dark as their coffee is roasted, does not have that overwhelming smoke taste that ruins it for me. I am unsure what is their roasting secret, I would venture to guess that longer roasting at lower temperatures, but I could be totally wrong. It’s just a guess.

If you are still not convinced, watch the video below. This is a video review from a guy that was like me before trying these beans. Burnt beans? Hmm… Not going to bother to try them.

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Kicking Horse Kick Ass Dark

I have never been a fan of darker roasts. In fact, I always liked lighter roasted beans because they have a longer shelf life and because they didn’t completely kill the bean’s personality. All the dark roasts I tried before had a unique dimension, caramel with a bold campfire component. Not my caffeinated drink.

All this changed when I tried Kicking Horse Kick Ass beans. This was the first time I enjoyed beans roasted so dark.

I brewed the Kick Ass in a French press coffee maker and with an automatic filter coffee machine, at work. Both brewing methods stood out with these beans. I am not a fan of automatic American coffee, but I get a cup from time to time when I don’t have other options. The French press coffee maker coffee prepared with the Kick Ass beans was fantastic, and I advise it to any Cafetière enthusiast who loves dark roasted coffees.

If you want some more coffee beans ideas, here is an article I wrote, and where I recommend some excellent beans for French press.

What Are the Perfect Kicking Horse Coffee Beans

As you probably guessed it, two of my favorites are Cliff Hanger Espresso coffee and Kick Ass, and they are the featured products in this Kicking Horse coffee review. Two other perfect dark roast blends are the Grizzly Claw, and 454 Horse Power. I have tried them and they are uniformly excellent.

Grizzly Claw is a dark roast, somewhat similar to Kick Ass, although enough distinctive to deserve a special spot in my pantry. Grizzly Claw is a concentrated coffee, (read bold with sufficient body), which amazingly still has a excellent dark chocolate taste. Usually, such darker roasted beans lose any coffee aroma, however not Kicking Horse’s dark roast blends. The beans are of Central American and South American origin, specifically selected for dark roasting.

454 Horse Power from Kicking Horse is another dark blend, nevertheless the beans are from Indonesia. A lot of love this blend more than the already renowned Kick Ass. At the end of the day, they are all ideal, you can’t in fact pick a definitive winner.

I finally tried the Three Sisters, after hearing many good things about it. I believe “Three Sisters” is among their lightest roasts – a medium. (Hola is the lightest.) The tasting notes remind of toasted coconut and cocoa. I recommend this coffee for Cafetière and cold brew. You can also check my personal preferences for cold brew coffee beans, for more ideas. You can also purchase these beans on Amazon by following this link: Three Sisters Coffee Beans from Kicking Horse.

For more info about the Kicking Horse Coffee beans visit their website.