Duck-rabbit Ethiopia Yabitu Koba – The Koba coffee producing region is set deeply in tradition for the local Oromo people. They have been growing coffee for centuries, living high up in the mountains in remote areas that are difficult to reach. The coffees from Yabitu Koba are well known around the world for their extremely delicate and floral profiles. This is a blend of Ethiopian Heirloom varietals, and is fully washed. The coffees grown for Yabitu Koba are at nearly 2300 MASL, which adds to the difficulty of reaching the town the local smallholding farmers are based in. The soil here is super fertile, mostly sandy loam. As stated, the cup is super floral, like honeysuckle. I also tasted some delicate yuzu citrus and earl grey tea. I brewed this with a 15.8:1 ratio and ground it seven clicks coarser than my typical starting point. I poured two pulses spaced out by 45 seconds, finishing my last pour at 1:50 for a 2:50 final brew time.
Duck-rabbit Guatemala SDBV – This coffee comes from the slopes of Acatenango, a volcano near Antigua, Guatemala. The farm is Buena Vista, and is located at 1500 MASL. This is a special farm for me because I actually have visited the farm over a decade ago! The coffees here are always phenomenal and this one is one of the more special coffees from the farm. All processing is done at Buena Vista’s own mill at the plantation. This coffee is of the Java variety, a famously intense and complex varietal that comes from an Ethiopia Heirloom varietal that was brought to the island of Java by the Dutch during occupation. This is now considered a special varietal and one of my favorites. I tasted cherry, black grape, and brown sugar. I brewed this with a 16.5:1 ratio, and ground it two clicks coarser than my typical starting point. I poured four pulses spaced out by 30 seconds, finishing my last pour at 2:35 for a 3:30 final brew time.
Manhattan Ethiopia Shoondhisa – One month, two coffees from Guji! This absolute funk bomb comes from the Sookoo washing station, founded by Ture Waji. Waji is known as the “King of Guji” because of the contributions made to development of specialty coffee in the region. This coffee was grown at 2173 MASL and is a blend of two Ethiopian heirloom varietals – Gibirinna 74110 and Serto 74112. This an Anaerobic natural, which makes this Shoondhisa lot a little more fun than what we typically see from Manhattan. The process brought out a bunch of crazy flavor notes and is an all around delicious coffee to drink. The cherries are initially sealed in plastic barrels for only 48 hours, and then removed and dried on raised beds for 15-20 days like a traditional natural. I tasted Fruit Punch and Lemonheads, with a lactic mouthfeel. I brewed this with a 16:1 ratio and ground it eight clicks coarser than my typical starting point. I poured three pulses spaced out by 30 seconds, finishing my third pour at 2:00 for a 3:00 brew time.
Manhattan Kenya Karimikui – Karimikui comes from the Kirinyaga region of Kenya, and is a washing station that is a member of the Rungeto Cooperative, residing on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. The Rungeto co-op is made of thousands of smallholding farmers. This lot is a field blend of the four major coffee varietals in Kenya – SL28, SL34, Batian, and Ruiru 11. It is fully washed, with careful sorting done by hand before being fermented in concrete tanks overnight, before being depulped, washed, and dried for 7-15 days. The seeds are then turned regularly to ensure even drying and consistency. I tasted raspberry syrup and sangria. The cup is slightly drying but incredibly sweet. I brewed this with a 15.8:1 ratio and ground it three clicks coarser than my typical starting point. I poured two pulses spaced out by 45 seconds following a 30 second bloom. I finished my second pour at 1:45 for a 2:50 total brew time.
