Crema@Home: Dark Matter's Unicorn Blood

Unicorn Blood from Dark Matter Coffee

We recently had a chance to try out Dark Matter Coffee's "Unicorn Blend" espresso.  What can we say, they didn't lie in their description.  Here at Crema Guru we're used to hyperbole and silly clothing catalog-type descriptiveness when it comes to coffee beans: "hint of paprika with Victorian cinnabar, James Dean's sweat and patchouli."  Usually we roll our eyes, ignore, and tip the cup.

But in the case of Dark Matter, when they say their Unicorn Blend has notes of peanut butter, they're not joking.  At all.  We fired up a few macchiatos to put the beans through their paces and were pleasantly surprised.  Every time we opened the bag in our kitchen we were struck with the unmistakable whiff of the legume that made the genius of Tuskegee famous.  In fact it left us imagining Carver enjoying the hell out of this brew.  To be clear, we're not talking cloying artificial PB&J push-button-cup hoo-haw, we're telling you that these folks, (or as we'll now refer to them) the masters of the dark arts in Chicago have managed to pull off a pretty neat trick: a blend that evokes the unmistakable, if fleeting, note of something and then cause your mouth to stop and consider it. It's as magical as it's pretty amazing packaging. We sensed it in the lower cheeks when we sipped it.

It's been a while since we've paused so long with a cup before drinking and with such satisfaction.  There is a lot going on here.  We can't recommend it enough.
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Dark Matter has a few locations in Chicago, including the recently honored Osmium Coffee.  They ship their beans and will grind as well.  We look forward to checking out their other selections.
ALSO LISTED ON OUR MIDWEST and CHICAGO Espresso Maps.