by At Beans and Burrs, we are amateur coffee lovers. We intend to write coffee reviews in a way that makes sense to regular coffee drinkers. All opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Have you ever experienced that feeling when trying multiple products hoping to discover the right one and finally find it? Temple Espresso Dharma was that product for me. After testing numerous espresso blends, I finally found one that matched all my preferences.
The journey to the benchmark
In my article “Get Fresh Coffee Beans Delivered Right to Your Door!” I explained why I started exploring purchasing fresh coffee beans online since I lived living far away from coffee roasters. Specifically, I used Trade for a couple of years before I started roasting my coffee beans. Trade’s overwhelming choice was fantastic for exploring various roasters and beans. I tried many options: single origins, espresso blends, light roast, medium roast, dark roast, and products from at least 20 roasters. There were inevitably hits and misses along the road.
I started narrowing my preference for espresso towards medium-dark roasts containing some Ethiopian beans. They usually had robust dark chocolate flavors balanced with complex berry notes and a thick and lush texture. I mentioned several of them in my article.
I had a revelation when I received my first bag of Temple Dharma Espresso. These beans combined everything I loved in an espresso: rich, complex, delicious. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I kept testing many other options because variety is the most fun part of my coffee journey, but I kept returning to Dharma. Dharma became my espresso benchmark. When I started roasting green coffee beans, I used it as the benchmark to compare my results to—the ultimate goal in terms of quality, texture, and complexity.
Time to revisit Temple Espresso Dharma
I hadn’t Temple Dharma in a long time. When I began roasting green coffee beans, I stopped purchasing coffee from Trade, saving me a lot of money. Then, thanks to this blog, I had the opportunity to test many delicious coffee beans. After writing many coffee beans reviews, I wanted to revisit this old favorite and submit it to the same tests.
Let us find together if it is still the benchmark.
About Temple Coffee Roasters and the coffee Espresso Dharma
Temple Coffee Roasters was founded in 2005 in Sacramento by Sean Kohmescher after a lengthy stay in Indonesia. His dream was to create a community gathering place, much like the temples he visited during his travels. His vision was simple: good vibes, excellent service, and exceptionally well-prepared coffee.
Since then, Temple has opened 8 coffee shops and a roastery in the Sacramento area. They ship all around the country and offer a subscription service.
Dharma is Temple’s signature espresso blend. It incorporates three distinct coffees from three different parts of the coffee-producing world:
- The first component comes from Minas Gerais, Brazil. It offers a dense and creamy body and contributes to rich notes of chocolate and a subtle maple syrup sweetness.
- The second coffee component comes from Sidamo, Ethiopia. It provides a dried fruit sweetness and fullness to the body.
- The third coffee comes from Central Valley, Costa Rica. This coffee is the Red Catuai Honey Process lot from Sonora Estate.
As explained in my article “How to Select the Best Coffee for Espresso?”, skilled coffee roasters manage to blend the characteristics of each type of coffee bean to create a balanced yet complex cup of espresso. I always found that Dharma worked to be rich and comforting and original and complex at the same time.
Let’s review Temple Dharma Espresso
Espresso
Perfectly balanced would be the best way to characterize this espresso. The sweetness and the brightness complete each other in perfect measure.
It displays a beautiful thick crema with a medium viscosity. When sipping it, I get this crisp flavor that instantly reminds me of cherries, immediately balanced by a delicate sweetness. It is delicious, easy to drink, and complex at the same time. The aftertaste is delicious: it keeps rolling on the back of my tongue without bitterness, alternating the sweet and bright notes. When my cup is finished, I immediately want to make another one.
This is a fantastic espresso. I would encourage anyone exploring different bean options for espresso to test it.
You might like to read this fantastic article; How to Make Your First Espresso Shots?
French press
I suspected Dharma would do well with the French press, and it did not disappoint. The perfect balance I mentioned about the espresso is shining through. A delicate sweetness that reminds me of delicious rich dark chocolate strikes me at the first sip. Funny, I did not get the dark chocolate with the espresso. A delicate acidity (bing cherries) completes the sweetness. There is no bitterness. It is one of the smoothest coffee I prepared with a French press, delicious! It is not bold but perfectly delicate, well measured, and impeccably balanced. I would recommend it to a beginner to showcase how the French press can produce a refined cup of coffee. I think that if more people tried it, they would ditch their Keurig in a heartbeat.
The aftertaste is delicate and sweet, not very long, however.
It also highlights what a good espresso blend can deliver. The roaster carefully selects different single-origin beans to yield a delicious and balanced espresso. This approach translates perfectly into the cup when brewed with the French press. The balance between sweetness is likely the result of blending bold, sweet beans from South America with brighter, fruitier beans from Africa. Sometimes you look for one of the particular characteristics, but occasionally, a well-executed blend, like this one, lets you enjoy all these traits in perfect harmony.
You might like to read this fantastic article; How to Make Your Coffee Look Sophisticated? Get a French Press!
Pour-over
Since this is a medium-dark roast, I wasn’t expecting the pour-over to produce the best results. I usually pick the French press for this coffee style, keeping the pour-over for lighter roasts.
That does not mean the coffee won’t be good, though—quite the contrary.
I detect more acidity. The sweetness is still present, but it now takes a back seat. There is also a faint bitterness that was not present in the French press. The perfect balance previously experienced does not carry with the pour-over. It is a pleasant coffee, but after trying it with the French press, it lost some of its deliciousness in the filter!
You might like to read this fantastic article; How to Get the Best Out of High-Quality Coffee Beans? Use the Pour-Over Method.
The bottom line: highly recommended
Revisiting this favorite after several months of trying many other coffee options, I immediately remembered why I like this coffee so much. It produces one of the best espressos you can get, but it also makes a stellar French press. It demonstrates that a delicious espresso blend should not be limited to this method. Temple Dharma Espresso is THE coffee I recommend to anyone asking about a great espresso. I think I can say that this one is my favorite. That gives me a new target: find a better option to top this one. Stay tuned!
