A house espresso is the most-poured thing on a bar. It needs to be reliable, balanced, and honest with milk. It also needs to taste like the place it's in. We were dialing toward something that felt like the Rio Grande Valley at golden hour: warm fruit, a little chocolate, a long sweet ending.
We landed on three origins. A Honduran washed coffee gives the body and the milk-chocolate spine. An Oaxacan natural lifts the cup with stone fruit and red grape. And a small percentage of a washed Yirgacheffe brings the floral note that makes the whole blend feel awake.
We named it Tres Fuegos because three fires are what it takes — the farm fire, the roasting fire, and the bar fire under the boiler. None of those moments knows about the others. The cup is the place they meet.
The blend is roasted Tuesday and Wednesday. We cup the bag the morning after every roast. The notes get written on a clipboard that lives next to the machine. Nothing fancy. Just the practice.