Description
Garry’s coffee special features three of our more interesting coffees. Higher acidity, interesting processing, this bundle is leaning towards more exotic coffee tones.
*Bundles change over time. You will get the listed coffees at the time of order. *
A pound each of:
Burundi Premium Ngozi – Gihere Natural
Gihere Central Washing station receives coffee from over 1600 small-holder producers in the Ngozi region of Burundi. The average farmer in this region only has approximately 250 trees, which is extremely small. They are picking their ripe coffee by hand here. This washing station was established in 1984 and features adequate soaking and floating tank for optimal coffee processing and has over 200 drying tables. As a result, they can process nearly 20,000 bags of coffee in total here. As a result of this washing station being established in the 80s, many small-holder farmers have gained access to capital investments, education, and infrastructure to produce exceptional coffees and improve their livelihoods. After coffee has dried, it it transported to the capital city of Gitega for dry milling and export.
Tasting Notes: A very fun & tasty African natural. To see it shine, keep it in the light to medium roast range, although it’s a tasty cup from light to dark. Light roasts themselves have a stronger lemony floral tone right upfront. For an African it would not be considered high acidity but will be clearly noticeable in the taste. Behind the brighter floral notes lies a nice semi-sweet stone-fruit tone, similar to cascara or to some, strawberry’ish. The fruit and floral will quickly fade into a more robust chocolate note with some traditional spice notes kicking in mostly in the aftertaste. Medium roasts will mute the floral/fruity tones to just a hint over-top of the more robust chocolate & spice darker tones. Still exotic due to the processing but promotes more traditional Burundi like tones the darker you roast. Dark roasts themselves retain a much sweeter edge than the washed processed Burundi and one can see just a touch of fruitiness as the cup cools.
Roasting Notes: Even roasting for a natural but does have some decent chaff on the beans. A slight reduction in batch size will help keep it an easy to roast coffee. Clean cup from light to dark, a fun bean to try different roast levels with. Good to let it setup a bit longer at either light or dark roasts, will produce a much smoother more defined cup.
Guatemalan Premium Santa Rosa – Blue Ayarza – Natural Processed
A wonderful new crop natural processed bean. These beans do have a slight fruitiness to them but it would be considered very mild for a natural processed. A good choice for any coffee fan.
The region of Ayarza is a special one, landmarked by the drastic landscape and cold blue water from the Laguna de Ayarza and Laguna Azul. The lake was formed by two massive volcanos that collapsed and formed a large crater. The legends surrounding this lake are numerous like te one that says the bottom has never been found. There is a large white rock that resembles a petrified woman who didn’t follow the orders of Jesus. In short, there are simply too many good stories about Ayarza to do it justice!
This natural was created by our buddies over at Covoya Coffee, who runs a couple mills throughout Guatemala. They purchase prime cherry from the local small holders and have the processing expertise to create wonderful high rated lots consistently. Producing a quality natural is no easy task. Four years ago they started by renting a wet mill at 1,500 meters on a RFA certified farm. The quality coming from the washed coffee was much better than they expected. So they moved onto producing top grade naturals. Natural coffees under the Blue Ayarza name, mark the best cherries from small holders in the region delivered to their mill, often in their own pickup trucks.
Tasting Notes: A solid cup from light to dark, but for most drinking, a medium roast will be the way to go. Sweet with just a pinch of citric upfront, medium bodied, good mouthfeel, just a pinch of fruitiness and ends with a nice malty undertone. Lighter roast get a bit brighter and slightly more fruity but can risk a little grassy, medium roasts present great balance to the flavors and was very easy drinking, darker roasts retain a lot of sweetness and hefty malty tones, but will get pretty roasty/smoky.
If drinking for drip or pour-over, light to medium roasts are where to go. If using for blending, espresso or cold brew, medium to dark roasts can produce some really tasty results.
Roasting Notes: A bit higher chaff bean but even roasting for a natural, great prep all in all. Error a little lighter than darker on this bean, just a little development past first crack makes a real tasty treat. A short setup works well with this bean, pops the fruit notes right out but if a little too sharp, set it aside for a couple days before drinking.
Zambia Kateshi Estate – Natural Processed
A lovely natural processed coffee. Fruity, floral, sweet and chocolaty. Unlike the anaerobic natural, this cup will contain pretty normal natural processed tones. Far less wild but just as tasty.
Kateshi coffee estate, as one of the first coffee estates in Zambia, was established in 1972 close to Kateshi village. Back then, its wet processing facilities represented the heart of coffee production in northern Zambia having been the central mill for all coffee produced in the region. It is also award-winning; its natural and honey placing both 1st and 2nd in Zambia’s annual Taste of Harvest competition.
Local Community is at the heart of the estate’s vision. Covoya provides daily access to safe drinking water to over 20,000 locals and supports 3 schools that provide 1,500+ students with primary and secondary education. Also on site is our health clinic, the only such facility for 30km. Complete with a pharmacy and delivery room, the clinic provides free basic healthcare to over 4,000 community members and sees an average of 95 visitors per day.
Kateshi has been recognized for boldly challenging gender stereotypes in Zambia, being the first and only coffee estate to employ women for traditionally male-dominated roles such as driving tractors, bull-dozers and road graders. Oh, and we also sponsor a football team, the Kateshi Coffee Bullets who compete in the Zambian 1st Division.
Tasting Notes: Best at the light to medium roast level. Good bit of citrus and red fruit upfront balanced with a thicker chocolate and spice note. Light roasts get a very jazzy stronger citric tone, with just a hint of a dark tone balance. Floral and sweet edged, with an emphasis on the fruitiness of the cup. Medium roasting brings the best of both worlds, some soft fruit, some chocolate and spice: medium to full bodied and far less sharp than the lighter roasts, but also a bit less fruity. More of a chocolaty cup with fruity highlights. Dark roasts get even fuller bodied but burn out some sweetness, taste like semi-sweet chocolate on the roasty/smoky side, thick with a bit of spice in the aftertaste. A hint of fruitiness as the cup cools but hard to tell its natural processed roots at darker roasts.
Roasting Notes: Easy to roast all in all but high chaff and slightly uneven roasting, adding a little complexity to traditional light roast points. A long first crack with the bean surface color darkening up quickly, can cause folks looking for light roasts to cool it out a bit soon. Try to make sure 98% of beans get through first crack before cooling. Erroring towards a medium roast is pretty bulletproof for a good cup.
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