Alana

Description

ALANA is inspired by childhood memories of the 80s. Remember the days you’d grab your bike, head over to your best mate’s house and yell for them to come out and play? That’s the idea: a coffee blend of two that play well together and don’t really care about being liked by everyone. It’s playful with its fruity character, and vibrant as the energy a 10-year-old has to play hard all day. It’s all organic and made up of two single-origin coffees.

Striking is the word. Lively and vibrant all the way through. Buttercream-sticky when hot, it turns juicy and tropical at warm temperature. When cool it’s soothing, like the finish of a cool milk chocolate drink.

Alana is the espresso we’d pour for ourselves: vibrant, juicy, almost an avant-garde take on espresso. A step on from Lighthouse and Sidewalk, a little more daring for most palates. Once you’re into this profile, it’s hard to go back. It also works really well as a go-to filter brew.

Get the brew guide for this coffee →

Shipping: Free in Greece on orders of €30+ (€5 below). Free to the EU on orders of €80+ (calculated at checkout below that). Anywhere else? Contact us for a shipping quote.

ALANA is inspired by childhood memories of the 80s. Remember the days you’d grab your bike, head over to your best mate’s house and yell for them to come out and play? That’s the idea: a coffee blend of two that play well together and don’t really care about being liked by everyone. It’s playful with its fruity character, and vibrant as the energy a 10-year-old has to play hard all day. It’s all organic and made up of two single-origin coffees.

Striking is the word. Lively and vibrant all the way through. Buttercream-sticky when hot, it turns juicy and tropical at warm temperature. When cool it’s soothing, like the finish of a cool milk chocolate drink.

How we brew it in our shops

A starting point. Play with it.

Dose
18 g

Yield
42 g (about 1:2.3)

Time
Don’t worry too much. Adjust to taste.

Machine temperature
93.5–95°C

Make it yours. Your palate is the best guide. If it tastes good, you’re there. If not, adjust:

Ratio shapes body. A shorter ratio gives a bigger body. A longer ratio gives a lighter body.

Time shapes the taste. At the same ratio, a shorter shot tends to be lighter with more pronounced acidity. A longer shot leans toward bitterness.

Temperature fine-tunes it.

With milk: we use full-fat milk and steam to about 55°C. Rest your palm on the jug and stop just before it’s too hot to touch. If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to drink.

Water: taste three glasses of water at room temperature (about 20°C). The one you’d choose to drink is a good sign of what to brew with. Use filtered tap water or a bottled water you like.

As a filter

How we like it. Play with it.

Coffee
16–17 g

Water
250 g at 93–94°C

Bloom
45 g (3× the coffee), 40 s

Brew time
about 2:30–3:00

Bloom. Pour about three times the coffee’s weight in water and let it sit for a good 40 seconds. Nudge it gently so everything is wet, but don’t swirl too hard.

Pour. One steady, slow pour close to the coffee up to 250 g, with a few gentle circles, keeping the bed even.

Adjust. Don’t worry too much about time. Running well over 3 minutes? Grind a little coarser. Faster than about 2:10? Grind a little finer.

Text from Kross Coffee Roasters' listing.