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:
Rwanda Huye Mountain Top Lot – Natural Processed Small-Bean/Peaberry
This is a smaller screen (bean size) with a high percentage of peaberries: a clean screen, low defect and even roasting. A very fun and tasty natural processed coffee from Rwanda, a different spin on tastes, being smaller beaned and natural processed, this is more like an Ethiopian Gr. 3 Natural or Yemen Mokka coffee than other Rwanda’s.
Huye Mountain Coffee is a private washing station established in 2011 to provide farmers in the region with access to international markets and buyers of specialty coffees.
Around 1,330 producers deliver their freshly picked coffee cherries to 26 collecting stations around the Huye community, where a truck visits daily to collect the farmers’ coffee during harvest season. This unique coffee comes from the Huye Mountain in the Huye District, in Southern Rwanda and grown above 1,900 meters. The natural process employed at Huye Mountain involves meticulous cherry selection and hand sorting prior to drying. Drying is done on raised African beds for between 14 and 28 days, depending on the weather, and the coffee is turned regularly.
Tasting Notes:We thought best served in the medium roast range but will be tasty from light to dark: a very sweet cup at any roast point. Lighter roasts have some stronger citric/floral acidity, a little hint of a grape-skin like fruitiness and a spiced (herbal) chocolate undertone. Medium roasts build a much creamier cup profile, just a hint of crisp floral upfront that fades into a strawberry like fruitiness balanced with a spicier chocolate dark tone. Dark roasts themselves are a bit flat but still very sweet edged, hardly fruity but makes up for it with the fuller bodied more robust chocolate and spice notes.
Roasting Notes: A bit higher chaff and slightly uneven roasting being natural processed but we would still consider it an easy to roast coffee. A refined natural processed, not old world crazy two toned like some. Shoot for a classic light to medium roast if you like more fruit and floral tones, any signs of second crack, cool it out right away. For more robust and creamy chocolate tone, take it darker, just touching second crack. If the cup is too sharp tasting, give it a couple day setup, gets nice and smooth.
Zambia Kateshi Estate – Anaerobic Natural Processed
Anaerobic coffees are fermented coffees. They use sealed containers to control the fermentation. There are no rules for the farmer, one can produce low fermentation coffees similar to washed processed using this method, to complete ferment bombs way beyond most natural processed beans. Unlike last season, in which this offering was more of a ferment bomb, this season, it is much more refined, definitely the most fruity and citric out of the three offerings but not nearly as over the top, much cleaner and more balanced in its tastes.
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. They provide 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 they 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 levels. Comparatively to the other more traditional Zambia offerings, this cup has stronger acidity, a thicker body, stronger fruit notes ranging from citric/tropical to a bit of classic red fruit. One can still see the classic Zambia cup profile with its darker toned contrast, nice and chocolaty with a bit of spice. Easily the best depth of flavor out of the three: all sorts of delicate little flavors pop out at the lighter roast points especially as the cup cools. Light roasts are the most citric and fruit, produces a clean cup with a little chocolate/spice balance. The soft fruit tone is a bit covered up by the brightness at light roasts, will be easier to see as the cup cools or the beans setup for a longer period. Medium roasts will pull a lot of the citric out of the cup, more along the lines of a buzzy acidity versus citric, a chocolaty cup with pretty exotic fruity highlights. Will pick up a little woody barrel aged tone to go along with the slight fruitiness to let you know you have something exotic. Darker roasts are interesting and strong, but will be bittersweet, not creamy and smooth like the washed processed.
Roasting Notes: Roasts pretty even and has a medium chaff level. Much cleaner bean preparation from last season. Surface color darkens up quickly, so if shooting for lighter roasts, almost easier to watch for the expansion in size, then give it a quick sec before cooling. Crazy coffees like these have a long setup period. Many think waiting 7-14 days after roasting on sizzling anaerobics brings a whole new level to the tastes. We have a hard time waiting that long but fun to save some beans to see how the tones develop.
Ethiopian Sidama Org. Bombe Gr. 3 – Natural
The processing station is located in Bombe, a small town in the Bensa district of eastern Sidama, close to the Harenna Forest preserve. The 725 farmers delivering cherry to the washing station average two hectares each in this area and some of the highest elevations in the whole of Sidama. There are three collection sites responsible for managing cherry delivery throughout the catchment area.
Bombe processes equal volumes of both fully washed and natural coffees, and has also produced a number of barrier-pushing experimental microlots over the years using unique fermentation techniques. This lot, a standard sundried natural, was carefully curated at the cherry stage. All cherry was then floated to remove less dense coffee, and then sundried on raised screen beds for 21 days. Drying beds are intentionally placed in areas that receive more consistent wind and less direct sunlight over the course of a day, which allows cherries to dry more evenly and avoid the risks of uneven temperatures, breakage, or drying too quickly and losing flavor in the process.
The Sidama region is known for producing the most coffee at the highest grades in Ethiopia, and the geography explains why this is. This region spreads across fertile highlands, where half of the land is cultivated. The surrounding rivers and lakes along with the very high elevation results in cool weather and fertile soil. These factors, in combination with over 100 inches of rainfall per year, cause the coffee to ripen slower than in any other region in Ethiopia. There are over 50 cooperatives and 200 washing stations throughout Sidama.
Tasting Notes: This is not a super fruity natural, would be considered a darker toned, lower acidity, chocolaty cup. One can tell its natural processed roots with its sweetness and thickness and its Ethiopian roots with highlights of spice & fruity/floral notes throughout the roast range. Best served in the light to medium roast range for drip brew for it will show its best balance and promote a hint of fruity/floral. Turns into a chocolate bomb at the darker roasts, more on the dark chocolate side, which would work wonderfully for espresso or cold brew. Lighter roasts have a pinch of citric acidity and wonderful aromatics, hints of red fruit that balance with a bit of semi-nutty tea like spice.
Flavor Profile: Lime, strawberry, hibiscus, balsamic, sweet, cocoa
Roasting Notes: Easy cup to roast, make sure you get some development past first crack, can risk a little grassy at super light roasts. Great from a medium roast to as dark as you want to go. Medium chaff, shouldn’t cause any issues. A slower roast helps mute some acidity and bring the lovely complex dark tone to the foreground. One will see a couple lighter beans in the mix, judge roast level by the bulk of the beans, not the couple of lighter ones.
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