Clever Colombia Misiones – Misiones is a farm in the Cundinamarca region of Colombia, that surrounds Bogota and just north of Huila. Misiones has been a long time staple on the CleverCoffee menu, and for some reason I have passed on it time and time again. The farm is operated by Luis Fernando. The typical harvests at Misiones consists of mostly Bourbon, Castillo, and Caturra; this lot being 100% Castillo. The farm is located at 1700 MASL, pretty standard for Colombia but fairly steep for the Cundinamarca region. Clever actually used this particular lot in the 2023 Danish Brewers cup. That being said, this is one of the most incredible coffees I have had in awhile. Even with my first brew being under-extracted, I could tell this coffee was otherworldly. I tasted honey-crisp apple, lingonberry, sugar cookie, and oolong when it cools off. I brewed this coffee with a 16.2:1 ratio and ground it right at my typical grind setting that I base off on a washed Colombia (you don’t say?). I poured three pulses spaced out by 35 seconds, finishing my third pour at 2:10 for a 3:05 total brew time.
Clever Brazil Paulo Afonso – Paulo Afonso de Refunsa is the mastermind behind the Santa Clara farm, following in his grandfather’s footsteps after pursuing a career in Mechanical Engineering. Paulo puts a ton of thought into how to use water as a resource and not as an endless commodity. A special filter for incoming water to the farm has been developed by Paulo to keep all coffee processing water as clean as possible. This is a natural processed coffee, and the cherries are basically stacked on top of each other to slow the drying process. This is only for a couple days until the cherries are laid out in an even layer to properly dry all the way through. This farm sits at 1100 MASL and is a Yellow Catuai lot. I tasted ripe strawberry and a zinfandel note at the front, then cornbread and hazelnut. I would have guessed this was a Brazilian coffee from a mile away, so nothing too unexpected here. I brewed this with a 16.0:1 ratio and ground it one click finer than my typical starting grind setting. I poured three pulses spaced out by 35 seconds, finishing my third pour at 2:20 for a 3:15 drop time.
Duck-Rabbit Sulawesi Kahayya Village – It is VERY tough for me to not buy Sulawesi when it is on a menu. I would say the ratio of Sulawesi/Sumatra/all Pacific Rim/Asian coffees in this sub is not representative of the specialty coffee industry. This coffee is a collection of small lots from local farmers in the Kahayya Village located in the southern tip of South Sulawesi. Apparently some of the coffee trees in this region are dated over 100 years old and still producing. As a lot of the info pages for this coffee say, the age of these trees has a lot to do with the Dutch colonizers that milked the region for coffee to bring back to Europe. The elevation range for the region these smallholding farmers comes from is 1400-1700 MASL and the two varietals are Typica and Line-S. Line-S being a varietal developed in India with great rust and disease resistance, something necessary at the lower elevations we see in this region. This cup is kind of all over the place and while I cannot stress enough how fuckin delicious it is, I really struggled to develop some solid tasting notes. This is a deeply complex cup that I almost feel bad about trying to define with my opinions. There is some sort of vinegar of an acidic fruit, like a green apple vinegar that I can taste, and maybe I get some lime once it cools (that Duck-Rabbit lists as a tasting note) but overall… this is just a super complex coffee. I brewed this with a 16.3:1 ratio and ground it one click coarser than my typical grind setting. I poured four pulses spaced out by 30 seconds following my 30 second bloom. My final pour ended at 2:20 for a 3:15 brew time.
Duck-Rabbit Rwanda Kanzu – This is the first Rwanda I have had in a BIT. The late fall/winter Rwandas that typically come flooding in, just were not present this year. Kanzu is a pretty famous washing station in western Rwanda, with most coffee being carried in by local smallholding farmers with small lot sizes of 100% Bourbon cherries grown at around 1900 MASL. This is a mountainous terrain with small farms situated on the slopes of Lake Kivu. This is a misty, foresty climate without neat rows of coffee trees. Kanzu pays record prices to these farmers, rewarding them for their quality. This is a natural processed coffee, with whole cherries laid out for 40 days in shaded raised beds. I assume the shading ensures that the cherries do not overheat and over-ferment. The cup profile is super clean for a natural but bursting with sweetness. I tasted these Polish toffee chocolates I have right now along with amaretto and raspberry. I brewed this with a 16.5:1 ratio and ground it 3 clicks coarser than my typical grind setting. I poured two pulses spaced out by 45 seconds after a short 30 second bloom. My second pour ended at 1:50 for a 3:00 brew time.
Stimulus Coffee Club 