Another month of quarantine passes us by, another month of interesting and fresh coffees for us to drink. I decided on April this month for a few reasons. First off, why not. April always has a full range of coffees that I would feel comfortable buying without trying or knowing anything about beforehand. Each green coffee is meticulously tasted and rated on quality before being purchased and they have an extremely progressive take on direct trade. Secondly, I choose them because of the actual coffees they have in inventory right now. Let\’s jump in.
- The Ethiopia Varietal Pillcocaja was the coffee I was most excited about so I made sure everyone in Stimulus Coffee Club was able to get a bag. This is the 5th or 6th lot from the Pillcocaja farm roasted by April, and those lucky enough to try the very first lot (Red Honey Typica) at Purple Llama back in March should understand the hype around these lots. This experiment of transplanting Ethiopian Varietals to South America is sort of new/modern and so far has been a beautiful experiment. While I was not familiar with this farm before April introduced me, the respect for them was instantaneous. In this coffee I tasted dark chocolate and raspberry. I was looking for the citrus notes that I was expecting to find but did not. I ground this coffee finer than usual and poured in three segments. I used 17 grams of coffee, then bloomed with 40 grams, then poured to 110 grams, then 180 grams, then finally to 270 grams. This was a 16:1 ratio and a 2:50 brew time. I would recommend starting at a lower ratio like 15.5:1, as my cup had lost some of the bounce I was expecting. UPDATE: I made this coffee again after letting it rest, I ground it much finer than first try and used a 16.5:1 ratio. This brought out so much more sweetness, florality, and cleaned up the cup. I am now a huge fan.
- Next, the Kenya Kamwangi. I know some of you are obsessed with Kenyan coffees and I knew this one would be excellent. Similar to last month\’s Kenyan Coffee from SEY, this coffee was grown in the Kirinyaga region as well. The Kamwangi is especially known for less traditional Kenyan coffee flavors typically, with more rhubarb and tartness than the typical honey/grapefruit. While I do love the classic Kenya profile, I love uniqueness and flavor variability more. I used a 15.5:1 ratio for this one, with only two segments. After a 40 gram bloom, I poured to 160 grams, then to 250 grams for a 3:00 brew time.
- Lastly, I decided to bring back the Burundi Nyabihanga. This coffee is just delightful. I was selling this coffee and brewing it on v60 at Purple Llama back in February. It was fantastic then, and upon confirmation from April\’s owner/founder/roaster that the profile has held up and aged perfectly, I knew it would be a great coffee to use to round out the offerings this month. This coffee has a classic Burundi profile but with April twist (more crisp clarity than earthiness). If you have the ability to make espresso at home, I recommend using this coffee, as it brings out the tart lime and orange flavors. For filter brewing, I would grind it similar to the Ecuador Pillcocaja. I recommend extending the brew time on this one as well; I think it brings out the juicy flavors. Brew the Burundi with the same number of pulses as the Ecuador as well, and it should yield a longer brew time because of the higher bean density. Use a 16:1 ratio to start.
Remember, all of my brewing recommendations shall be seen as starting points since everyone is using a different method, with a different grinder, and different water. As always, reference my \”How I Brew\” post on how to scale up when using an automatic/batch brewer.
I hope you enjoy these coffees and I recommend reading the April blog or watching his videos on brewing. He has excellent insight on why coffee does the things it does when you add hot water. You can find that here if you\’re interested: April Blog
Lastly, lets get a discussion going! Please comment your thoughts on the coffee or a good method to make them to help others (including me) make better coffee at home and also refine the offerings for each month.
Stimulus Coffee Club 
Dylan, Thank you for your notes and care in selecting the coffees. I also have had some delicious cups of April at purple llama and was looking forward to this package. I could drink cups of Kamwangi AA everyday for the rest of my life. It’s not that is the best coffee I have ever tasted, it’s that it’s so pleasant to smell and when preparing it the profiles are so delicious. Thank you for pasting updates on the Pillcocaja, my views on this coffee shifted acting resting too. Many years back I did a cupping with some people from Coffee Collective, Monmoth and Counter Culture. I did three different water formulations and we tasted each of the sets of coffees with the Three different waters. The most interesting thing was that the “leanest” water was preferred with the CPH coffees and the “heavier mineral” water was preceded for Monmoth. Counter Culture worked best in the middle. So this morning I did two different water formulations, with one being a low mineral spring water from UP that my friend brought back for me this weekend. The UP water tastes more balanced itself and the Ph is higher than the Optipure softened and filtered water. But once brewed the Optipure water brew was much more revealing of the Kenyan chacteristics I would expect. Both delicious, but the Optipure calibrated water let the coffee shine. I hope other people get as much fun out of these coffees and experiment with the variables.
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Wow that is really interesting. I wonder how low the mineral content was on the UP spring water. I am assuming it was closer in water hardness to a standard home filter though. It could be an interesting experiment to keep every other variable consistent and then maybe dilute home-purified water with distilled to match water hardness with an Optipure. Thanks for sharing
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