I get excited about new coffee more than I probably should, and I've been dying to try New Light by Superlost since I first heard about it. It finally showed up, and I'm genuinely glad I waited.
First thing worth mentioning: Superlost ships this in a box, not just a padded mailer. Small detail, but it matters — there's no chance of the bag getting crushed or popping open in transit the way it can with flimsier packaging. Somebody over there is thinking about the coffee's whole journey, not just the roast.
This is about as fresh as it gets. What showed up was roasted only 12 days before. If you've never had coffee this close to its roast date, it's a different experience — louder aromatics, a livelier crema, more of everything up front.
Right off the bat, the bouquet is fruity. Rum raisin, a thread of cinnamon, and — unexpectedly — just a bit of paprika underneath it. Not what I was picturing going in, and exactly the kind of surprise that makes single-farm coffee worth chasing in the first place.
The bourbon varietal beans themselves are impressively consistent. Color is even across the batch, the grind came out clean, and the first pull was as even as espresso gets. That kind of consistency usually means careful sorting and a roaster who knows exactly what they're doing with this lot.
Dialing it in: My first pull ran 18 seconds for 38.8 grams out at 196°F — a bit fast, started at 10 on the Niche. I brought the grind down to 9 on the Niche and landed on 26 seconds for 35.5 grams, which felt a lot closer to where this coffee wants to live. I may go up in temp to push this a bit more as it ages but for now I will stay at 196/197.
Right now it's a very neutral espresso — in the best way. Clean, no rough edges, with some really nice aromatic notes right as you go in for the first sip. I'll check back in with an update once the beans have had a bit more time to rest and age; espresso this fresh always shifts a little over the first week or two.
We're genuinely excited about this one, and so far the whole experience — from the packaging to the first pull — has been excellent. If you want to try it for yourself, New Light is up in the shop now, available as whole bean or ground for French press.
Once this lot of coffee is done, it will rotate to a new farm. Right now it comes from Karambi Kanzo 720 in Nyamasheke, Rwanda.
The artwork on the packaging is beautifully done by GDBEE whose other work can be seen here GDBEE.store
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