Clever Kenya Top Mutitu – This absolute treasure comes to us from the Mutitu Washing Factory in Kirinyaga. Kirinyaga has consistently been one of the top producing regions in Kenya. Through all of the coffee-related issues that Kenya has been faced with in recent years, many coffees in this region have held strong and maintained focus on high quality. It is “Top Mutitu” for one reason – this is the best coffee that has come out of the Mutitu Washing Station harvest. The washing station was created in 1963 out of necessity for there to be a central co-op for the neighboring farms that produce coffee around the base of Mt. Kenya, making it one of the oldest in the region of Kirinyaga. Mutitu has set up efficient water supply passages and waste water passages, as well as setting up a system where the farmers are able to demand payment in timely manners. Getting paid as soon as the cherries are delivered. This lot was grown at around 1400 MASL, and is a field blend of typical Kenyan varietals SL28, SL34, Batian, and Ruiru 11. This is a truly delicious washed Kenyan coffee. I taste blackberry, passionfruit, and raisin. Acidity is high. I brewed this with a 15.5:1 ratio and ground it four clicks coarser than my typical starting point. I poured three pulses spaced out by 30 seconds, finishing my last pout at around 2:10 for a 2:55 drop time.
Clever Ethiopia Sookoo Qabballe – Qabballe translates to cold, and that is what the conditions for this coffee are. The coffee is grown in Guji, at a super elevation of 2300 MASL. This is grown at such a high elevation where temperatures are essentially… cold. I have not had a lot of coffees put under these conditions, which you will notice affects the bean as they are absurdly small and dense. My first brew was so over-extracted; I have never had to grind a coffee this coarse before. Sookoo is a washing station owned by Ture Waji, and has only been producing coffee since 2018. The farmers only use natural compost for the coffee trees (I’m sure you can imagine what that means) and bring cherries to Sookoo for what is becoming more experimental processing. I tasted strawberry shortcake right away, ripe melon, lavender, and finishes with a sort of salty sweet candy. I ground this 8 clicks coarser than my typical starting point, and brewed it with a 16.3:1 ratio. I poured two pulses spaced out by 50 seconds, finishing my second pour at 2:05 for a 3:10 brew time.
Little Wolf Ethiopia Shantawene – Shantawene is the name of the washing station, located in the Sidama region of Ethiopia. The washing station is one of many operated by Daye Bensa, and the #7 cup of excellence in 2020 was processed at Shantawene. The beans here are super dense and grown at around 1900-2100 MASL. They use sorting screens to separate different bean sizes. The cherries in this region are known to mature a little more slowly which might have something to do with the elevation and cooler temperatures, or the native Ethiopian landrace varietals. This is a classic washed process for an Ethiopia, wet fermented for 36-72 hours. The beans are then dried on raised African beds for several days till they hit about 10% moisture. This cup is very floral, I tasted chamomile tea, lavender, meyer lemon, and green tea. I brewed this with a 15.8:1 ratio, and ground it 7 clicks coarser than my typical starting point. I poured two pulses spaced out by 45 seconds, ending my second pour at around 2:00 for a 2:45 brew time.
Little Wolf Colombia Las Perlitas – This wonderful co-op is back again with a new coffee that is not quite like anything they have produced before (that I have tasted at least). Las Perlitas is a project in Narino that scours the region for smallholding producers without resources to process and export their small lots on their own. The lots are typically 1-2 hectares of classic varietals of high quality. These smaller lots are grown at ranges from 1800-2200 MASL and is a blend of Caturra, Castillo, and Colombia. Through the smaller lot selections at Las Perlitas, the farmers are able to focus exclusively on high quality and experimentation to produce the best coffee. In this cup I tasted white tea, kettle corn, roasted barley, and red apple. Interestingly, in an auto-drip cup I tasted slightly more fruit notes. I brewed this with a 16.5:1 ratio and ground it 3 clicks finer than my typical grind setting , and poured four pulses spaced out by 30-35 seconds. I bloomed this for 50 seconds, and finished pouring at 2:30 for a 3:20 brew time.
Stimulus Coffee Club 