Standout Ethiopia Atoma Station – It is not common for me to have a new Ethiopian producer, but nowadays roasters are seeking out smaller operations and not Mega Washing Stations. So, with this, we have a coffee from the Atoma Station, the product of Mike Mamo. This is Mike’s second washing station, and opened in 2022 in the Jimma region of western Ethiopia. The site is quite remote, only accessible by horse. This requires the farmers to sometimes take two trips to bring their full harvest to the washing station each evening during harvest. I am so obsessed with this coffee. The first brew I was like ~yeah this is a nice one~, but it did not brew up perfectly. The second brew, !holy shit!. For sure my favorite Ethiopian of the year. I tasted Meyer lemon, honeysuckle, and white tea with mild orange as it cools. I brewed this with a 15.8:1 ratio, and ground it six clicks coarser than my typical starting point. I poured two pulses spaced out by 45 seconds, finishing my second pour at 2:00 for a 2:50 final brew time.
Standout Kenya Gachatha AA – Gachatha, the famous washing station and farming co-op in Nyeri. Most farmers in the co-op grow coffee at around 1800-1900 MASL, and is a blend of SL-28, SL-34, Ruiru 11, and Batian. The coffees are taken to Gachatha and sorted to varying grades. This lot is AA, the largest size of beans. The individual farmers perform their own hand sorting to ensure they are getting paid high prices for the best cherries. The coffees are double soaked in classic Kenyan style, and covered to dry during daytime, and then left open at night to ensure even drying. Once dried to around 10-12%, the seeds are bagged up and ready to ship out. This is such a clean and delightful cup. I taste Orange creamsicle, Grapefruit, Lemongrass. I brewed this with a 16.4:1 ratio, and ground it four clicks coarser than my typical starting point. I poured two pulses spaced out by 40 seconds, finishing my second pour at 1:50 for a 2:50 final brew time.
Junto Tanzania AMCOS Peaberry – Tanzania, a less frequent and somewhat elusive origin lately in specialty coffee. “AMCOS” or Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies. This is a Kent varietal and a Peaberry, a quite common combo for Tanzanian coffee. AMCOS basically buys green coffee from many local smallholding farmers, and meticulously sorts it in to grades for quality. AMCOS has helped coffee production in Tanzania grow and gets producers coffee to international markets. When ground, it smells awesome. Spices explode from it. The brew has a bit or sourness, and a lot of sweetness. I tasted Green Apple, Black Walnut, Caramel. I brewed this with a 16.2:1 ratio, and ground it two clicks coarser than my typical starting point. I poured three pulses spaced out by 35 seconds, finishing my third pour at 2:30 for a 3:10 final brew time.
Junto Colombia El Diviso – Buying a Nestor Lasso coffee is the true holiday gift that we needed after a November shortage. For those familiar with Nestor Lasso, or have at least tried some in the subscription in years past, you know this is a treat. For the newbies, Nestor Lasso is an expert in experimental processing in Huila, Colombia. Every coffee from his farm, El Diviso, is killer. Like most coffees here, this is a Caturra picked at peak ripeness. The cherries are extremely carefully sorted to ensure perfection. This is a washed Double Anaerobic coffee, meaning that the whole cherries are initially sealed in airtight tanks for 20 hours. The fermented cherries are then removed, and then put in oxidation tanks for 28 hours at a higher temperature. They are then moved back to airtight tanks for an additional 18 hours, but with the added microbial mossto that was removed from the cherries during the oxidation phase. Once complete, the cherries are washed and wet fermented to finish up processing, then dried under solar dryers until specific moisture level. In the cup I taste ripe Strawberry, Grenache, and mostly just Funky. I brewed this with a 16:1 ratio, and ground it three clicks finer than my typical starting point. I poured four pulses spaced out by 30 seconds, with a wider circle to attempt to slow this brew down. I finished my fourth pour at 2:35 for a 3:15 final brew time.
Stimulus Coffee Club 