A great deal on a good tasting “old world” Ethiopian Natural.
This is an aggregate coffee from the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The small holder coffee growers do not have processing equipment so the dry mill usually buys the ripe cherry off of them. The mill then sorts it and processes it and grades it accordingly.
For Ethiopia is still pretty wild in its coffee growing practices, these aggregate coffees tend to contain many undocumented and wild strains of coffee. The villagers and family will pick any tree they can find with ripe berries. A very cool cup profile but will roast pretty uneven and be high chaff. Unique stuff unlike almost any other producing nation.
The mill processes these beans by immediately sorting them and placing them on raised drying beds, slow-drying them over a period of 15 to 20 days. The beds are carefully constructed to ensure proper air circulation and temperature control for an optimal drying process. Cherries are also turned regularly on the beds to prevent damage during the drying process. The cherries are stored in a local warehouse after the moisture is reduced to less than 12 percent. Then the beans are then transported to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to be milled and prepared for export.
Tasting Notes:
A great cup; wild but not too wild. Medium bodied and fairly low acidity, the slow dry does come out in the flavor with a bit of red fruit upfront at any but a dark roast. A nice balance of sweet, red fruit and floral mixing with a semi-earthy bakers chocolate undertone.
Roasting Notes:
These old world Ethiopian Naturals are a little trickier to roast. Consider it a high chaff coffee and possibly reduce the batch size slightly. A easy roast point for it is to just touch 2nd crack, as soon as you see any signs of the 2nd crack on any of the beans, cool it out. You will notice some beans on the lighter side and ranging up to a full city, provides great contrast of tones in the cup. You can go lighter or darker for personal taste, lighter will get you a bit more floral and fruit, darker will promote the bakers chocolate and spice qualities.
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