Market Lane is a well-respected Melbourne roaster that a lot of us would be aware of. Still, this is the first time I've tried one of their Brazilian single origins - while Brazil is a huge coffee producer, they sometimes have the unfortunate reputation of producing smooth, inoffensive but ultimately uninteresting coffee (depending on your taste).
Marimbus, though, is a step above. It does hold the characteristics of Brazilian growing generally - it is smooth and sweet, with a gentle caramel/almond praline profile and a medium body - but the care that has been taken in both the production of the beans and their roasting is obvious. For a smooth coffee it holds up impressively well with milk and produces a surprisingly tasty latte or flat white. It's also very forgiving when producing espresso - it took me a few shots to dial in my grind, but with this bean it's very hard to make a bad coffee. Sure, you can still stuff it up - but even if your dose or grind isn't perfect you'll still be producing something extremely drinkable.
Also, customer service from Direct Coffee is excellent - great communication, fast shipping - everything you're looking for in an online shop.
