Coffee Review Archive – 2005/6 – COS to F

Welcome the the wayback window of Sweet Maria’s green coffee bean reviews!

This is how we used to publish our review archives, and just for the heck of it, we like to keep our old stuff online … you know, the dustbin of history and all that. Likely none of the links work or the images show up. But old web sites are like other old things: stuff breaks. So here it is, our Coffee Review Archive:

You are browsing 2005 -2006 Archive – COS to F Reviews
Costa Rica  
Costa Rica Tres Rios WP Decaf
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: West Valley, Tres Rios Region Mark: Tres Rios SHB Lot
Processing: Wet-processed Crop: December 2006 arrival Appearance: 0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen Varietal: Catuai, Caturra, Costa Rica 95
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.3 Notes: It used to be that water decafs were generic coffees; you really couldn’t verify that the source coffee was a good cup, or even specialty coffee at all! It was possible for large roasters to send their own lots to Swiss Water for decaffeination, but that was impossible for everyone else. Now we have been able to buy coffees that we cup as regular coffees and verify the quality, then re-cup after decaffeination to see the effect of the process. This is from the West Valley area, Tres Rios region (where Magnolia comes from) and is from the La Laguna mill. It really has appropriate Costa Rica cup character: This comes through very well after the Water Process decaf in this cup. It is medium-bodied with a bright snap to it and good sweetness. I get sweet pepper hints too, like red bell pepper and even a touch of cayenne in the finish. The body is light, but seems totally appropriate for the snappy, lively cup character. What is most distinct about this cup is the nutty roast character that emerges at a City+ roast stage and is the dominant theme through the Full City+ stage. And Vienna roast of this lot is very nice too … It also makes a good addition to a decaf blend to add a higher note to the cup, for example, a blend of 50% Sulawesi or Sumatra for the bass notes and 50% CR Decaf for the brighter notes.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.3
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.4
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.3
Body – Movement (1-5) 2.8
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.3
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Roast: City + is ideal to maintain the brightness in the cup – Nuttiness persists from City+ to Full City+
add 50 50 Compare to: Bright, clean, nutty decafs like the Panama decafs
Score (Max. 100) 84.4 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild / Nutty
Costa Rica Dota Tarrazu -Hermosa
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: Dota, Tarrazu Mark: Coopedota RL, Hermosa
Processing: Wet-Process Crop: August 2006 Arrival Appearance: .4 d/300gr, 18 Screen Varietal: Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.6 Notes: Dota is a sub-region of Tarrazu, a valley that is, well, sort of bowl-like. Not only is the altitude exceptionally high (5,000 to 6,000 feet) but the physical shape of the valley also contributes to a unique cup character that (if you follow our track record buying Dota coffees) is extraordinary. Caturra culitivar may contribute to the fruited note in the cup, and altitude makes this bright, snappy acidity possible, so the winey notes we might attribute to the special weather and soil of the Dota microregion. The dry grounds have a very chocolate bittersweet to them, but there are toasted almond accents too. When the hot water hits the grounds, I get a pleasantly surprising black tea aroma laced with floral notes. The City+ roast I did of this coffee is outstanding: I get blackberry tea flavors, floral elements, and that unique winey fruit found in great Dota coffees. It’s sweet from start to finish, with fairly light body. I get some mint herbal hints in the finish, fading to red grape. This is an excellent Dota coffee, with true origin character (or terroir, if you prefer the wine language). The long aftertaste has this pesistent clean berry-to-grape sweetness, a cleanly disappearing cup.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.8
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.7
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.8
Body – Movement (1-5) 2.8
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.8
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 1 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild-to-medium intensity/winey fruited notes, berry, tea  
add 50 50 Roast: City+ is recommended for the delicate cup I describe, but FC has great chocolate bittersweetness.
Score (Max. 100) 87.5 Compare to: Very Dota-like in character, bright, berry like winey notes.
Costa Rica Pulp Natural – La Candelilla
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: Tarrazú Mark: Hacienda La Candelilla
Processing: Pulp Natural (Brazil Style) Process Crop: July 2006 Arrival Appearance: .2 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen Varietal: Caturra, Red Catuai, Arabigo
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.5 Notes: La Candelilla is an estate located in La Sabana on the River Pirris, west of San Marcos de Tarrazu and 35 miles SE of San Jose. The coffee is grown at an altitude of between 1,200 and 1,900 meters (very high for Costa Rica). It’s an old farm; La Candelilla was established by Victor Mora around 1900, while the mill was opened by the current owners, Rafael and Lucia Sanchez, in the summer of 2000. The owners of La Candelilla are committed to environmentally friendly policies in the cultivation and processing of the good quality coffee. And they are willing to take on some unusual processing techniques, which is what we have here. This is a “Miel” coffee (as it is called traditionally in C. America), processed using a Brazil-style method called Pulp Natural. “Miel” (meaning honey) is rare (and a bit risky) in Central America. When it was good, this coffee had great body, a husky sweet “wild-honey” cup with moderate acidity. It is great as a brewed/press coffee, it is great as straight espresso (if the brightness/acidity in the cup can be moderated by roasting technique), it is great in espresso blends, especially with top quality Brazils. To do this method, you pulp the skin off the coffee cherry, and without removing the fruity mucilage layer, sun-dry the remaining seed on raised beds, called air drying or African beds in other places. The long contact the fruit has with the parchment layer changes the character of the green coffee inside the parchment, and has this unique effect on the cup. The Candelilla estate pulped natural “Miel” is different from the El Salvador we have had. I cupped this coffee the traditional way at several degrees of roast, the darker ones intended more for my espresso machine than brewing. But the aromas from the dark roasts were so unique, with the expected carbony pungency, but also lively spice aromas, sweet and fruited. At City+ roast the coffee had the husky “miel” sweetness to it. With more roast, warming spice and chocolate emerged to back up the fruits. Darker roast Costa Ricans have never made sense to me as brewed coffee (they get too thin, too insipid) but here were darker (FC+ to light Vienna) roasts that had heft, complexity, and great body. There’s a waxy, oily mouthfeel to back up the considerable complexity. I did not go to Full French on this (I never do, even my espresso isn’t roasted that dark), and the real peak of flavor was about 15 seconds into 2nd crack on my drum sample roaster. In espresso, the Candelilla is a bit acidic for a straight shot (since it is a true Tarrazu coffee from high elevation), but is great as a 33% component in espresso blends. You can also roast it in a way that mutes the acidity a bit, and get good single-estate espresso shots.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.2
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.3
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.5
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 4.2
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.4
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium to bold intensity / at darker roasts – complexity, body, ripe fruit and chocolate
add 50 50 Roast: I like Full City+, for brewed and press coffee, and a bit darker too (Light Vienna, about 15 seconds into 2nd crack). The Full City or Viena espresso is intense.
Score (Max. 100) 86.1 Compare to: A very different coffee from Costa Ricans, great for darker roasts. You can read more about La Candelilla Estate here.
Costa Rican “SM Select” Peaberry
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: Dota, Tarrazu Mark: Special Sweet Maria’s Selection (see below)
Processing: Wet Process Crop: August 2006 Arrival Appearance: 1 d/300gr, Peaberry screen Varietal: Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.3 Notes: This is the third year we have offered a really special Peaberry lot we had prepared for us with the the help of an extremely fine cupper in Costa Rica, and an excellent mill. Can we call it a “tradition” yet? This year, we have focused on Dota, Tarrazu for our special Peaberry, and the results are a Costa RIca coffee with excellent winey fruit notes and aftertaste. Once again, I have to be a bit vague about the friends who have helped us select this lot, but when you think of extremely high quality Costa Rican coffees, the correct name will come to mind. They were willing to hand-select peaberries from lots through this excellent Tarrazu mill and assemble the lot based on overall cup profile of these coffees. The project was overseen by a true “master cupper” and this resulting coffee is more a tribute to his abilities than to anything I did. (I suppose I had the good sense to start the project!) Just like a master vintner would combine wines made from particular parts of the vineyard, he has created a really complex cup with a lot more character and intensity that many Costa Rican offerings. And there is a lot to be done in the roaster with this coffee, with fantastic results for those with the ability to slow the roast in the interstice between first and second crack. I performed a lot of roast tests on this coffee and have good results through the whole roast spectrum. FC+ and even light Vienna roast are tangy, pungent and very chocolaty. But my comments are going to be for the other end of the roast range: City roast (roasting stopped promptly at end of 1st crack). Here the coffee has a rather textured and uneven surface appearance (see link below), and I was a little surprised to see some seed-to-seed unevenness, but this is roasting for maximum cup quality … not a beauty contest! City roast had exactly what I hoped to find in a great Dota Tarrazu coffee: concord grape sweetness, an almost tannic edge, and winey accent. I also get cherry hints, almond and hazelnut, but it is the flavors that relate to grape that I find compelling here. In some coffees, these can come from wet-processing errors, from overfermentation, or overly ripe (crimson) coffee cherry. But here it is related to the soil and climate of the Dota Tarrazu subregion. It is the “correct character” for Dota, if we can sound so proper for a moment, and in that way it is a rewarding find.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.3
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.7
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.8
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 3.4
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 9
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 1 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild to Medium intensity / Winey fruit notes, nuts
add 50 50 Roast: See the notes above – I prefer it at a light City roast, stopped promptly just as 1st crack concludes. I have some pictures to demonstrate this roast
Score (Max. 100) 87.5 Compare to: A nuanced cup, mild but compelling. These merit a +1 correction.
Costa Rica Tarrazú – Hacienda La Minita
 Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: Tarrazú Mark: La Minita
Processing: Washed Crop: May 2006 Arrival Appearance: 0 d/300gr16/17scr Varietal: Hibrido Typica, Catuaí, Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.7 Notes: La Minita is a pedigree coffee for sure. You can open countless coffee books (Kummer’s Joy of Coffee and Knox’s Coffee Basics to name two) and read endless praise of the Bill McAlprin’s La Minita farm and their exacting standards. It is so well thought of that at SCAA seminars I heard it referred to by 3 separate speakers: ” When you cup the finest coffees, like a La Minita for instance …” and so on. What’s neat is that La Minita really does stand up as tall as its reputation (unlike JBM’s, some Hawaiians, etc.). And it does so not by conking you over the head with its power. It’s actually milder in acidity compared to some other Costa Rican coffees from the Tarrazú region. What it has is a refined sweetness in the cup, balance. It’s a very mild coffee and each time I roast it and every time I brew it I feel like I am on the verge of discovering something new there. For me, it has a fresh red apple fruitiness to it, and in a slightly darker roasts it turns to a winey-berry flavor. There’s some spice, hints of cinnamon and anise, and in the lighter roasts an almondy roast taste with vanilla hints. The aromatics are sweet and clean. It’s always an elegant, refined, clean cup (it has something we call “great transparency” in cupping), but keep the roast light if you can (see roast notes below). The farm itself is a model of perfection in terms of technical standards and beauty. The coffee is milled and prepared meticulously and is not brokered by an indifferent third party, but by Hacienda La Minita themselves. It’s also a model for how quality can sustain super-premium prices in a very unstable coffee market. The La Minita model is so successful that they begin to apply the same exacting standards to other coffees, and yielding premium prices.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.7
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.8
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.5
Body – Movement (1-5) 2.8
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.6
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0.0
add 50 50.0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Clean, delicate , sweet cup.
Roast: City to Full City+: My preference with the La Minita is for a light City roast beacuse there are more floral notes in the cup, but FC has a great sweetness too.
Score (Max. 100) 86.1 Compare to: The epitome of delicate, refined, clean Central American coffee.
Costa Rican La Magnolia SWP Decaf
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: Tres Rios Mark: La Magnolia
Processing: Wet-processed, SWP Decaf Crop: May 2006 arrival  Appearance: 0 d/300gr, 16-17 Screen Varietal: Catuai and Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.0

Notes: This is the first time we have been able to offer the exact same lot of Costa Rican estate coffee in both Decaf and non-Decaf. And cupping them side-by-side, it is remarkable how much the sweet, crisp, clean, bright La Magnolia cup character has survived the decaffeination process. This is going to sound ridiculous, but this coffee has a lot of “coffee flavor”. I just don’t know how else to describe the clean, balanced charm of this cup profile, and it has been like this for years. We have been stocking the La Magnolia, a coffee milled to exacting standards, for quite a few years now. The coffee comes from a small beneficio, and used to be sold exclusively in Europe. And year after year this mill is producing a consistently excellent cup under the classic La Magnolia trade name. Each year I put it up against all the other Costa samples in a blind cupping, and it simply shimmers. By now it’s no surprise when I turn over the I.D. card for the sample and see it’s the La Magnolia. The wet aromatics turn much more lively and dynamic, with citrus-flower blooms and the smell of sweet bread baking. The cup has a light body and a mild intensity to match, a beautifully delicate and refined cup. It has nippy citrus flavors with just a twist of rind, a crystalline sugar sweetness, and a beautifully sweet finish. Roasted to a City+, this is one of the most beautiful and delicate coffees my palate has had the pleasure of enjoying. It is especially true with the La Magnolia that any dirtiness in your brewing system will show up very clearly in this cup, about as desirable as stepping on a thorn … so keep your stuff clean and enjoy this sweet nuanced cup! I think it’s a more complex cup than last year, but still has the top end of the flavor spectrum, that crystal clear brightness that defines the really good Costa Rican coffees.

 
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.2
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.7
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.3
Body – Movement (1-5) 2.9
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.3
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0.0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Delicate acidity, floral and citric
Add 50 50.0 Roast: City Roast: You lose the delicate bright flavors if you roast this too dark. This is more true for the SWP Decaf version of La Magnolia than for the non-decaf!
Score (Max. 100) 85.3 Compare to: More complex than the usual Tres Rios coffees, a bright, clean cup with good spice and fruit.
Costa Rica SHB WP Decaf
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: West Valley Mark: Tres Rios SHB Lot
Processing: Wet-processed Crop: Oct 2005 arrival Appearance: 0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen Varietal: Catuai, Caturra, Costa Rica 95
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3 Notes: It used to be that water decafs were generic coffees; you really couldn’t verify that the source coffee was a good cup, or even specialty coffee at all! It was possible for large roasters to send their own lots to Swiss Water for decaffeination, but that was impossible for everyone else. Now we have been able to buy coffees that we cup as regular coffees and verify the quality, then re-cup after decaffeination to see the effect of the process. This is from the West Valley region (where La Magnolia comes from) and is from the La Laguna mill. It really has appropriate Costa Rica cup character: This comes through very well after the Water Process decaf in this cup. It is medium-bodied with a bright snap to it and good sweetness. I get sweet pepper hints too, like red bell pepper and even a touch of cayenne in the finish. What is most distinct about this cup is the nutty roast character that emerges at a City+ roast stage and is the dominant theme through the Full City+ stage. And Vienna roast of this lot is very nice too … It also makes a good addition to a decaf blend to add a higher note to the cup, for example, a blend of 50% Sulawesi or Sumatra for the bass notes and 50% CR Decaf for the brighter notes.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.2
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.1
Body – Movement (1-5) 2.8
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Roast: City + is ideal to maintain the brightness in the cup – Nuttiness persists from City+ to Full City+
add 50 50 Compare to: Bright, clean, nutty decafs like the Panama decafs
Score (Max. 100) 82.7 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild / Nutty
Costa Rican Dota – Conquistador
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: Dota, Tarrazú Mark: El Conquistador
Processing: Wet-processed Crop: July 2005 arrival Appearance: 0 d/300gr, 16-17 Screen Varietal: Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.2 Notes: Dota is a small subregion of the Tarrazú valley, more remote than the areas where most of the coffee is planted. And for years this particular coffee, El Conquistador, went to a single roaster in Germany. Great Dota coffees are fairly small sized seeds, with greater density due to the high altitudes they are cultivated at. Some roasters used to believe that the unique Dota cup character was the result of extra fermentation times at the mill during the wet-processing of the coffee. But it fact it is processed the same way that other Tarrazú coffees are, with the same fermentation times. The difference is in the unique soils that are found in the Dota micro-region of Tarrazú. We have stocked this coffee for several years now and in each blind cupping to new-crop Costas it is always a standout (but often in a slightly different way). This lot of Dota Conquistador from later in the crop (new crop is due next April) A recommendation: because we are late int he crop cycle with this coffee, don’t overstock your cupboard. Buy what you need for the next month or so.. It is not tired in the cup, but I found the light City roast to be a bit lacking compared to early in the season. But this is a Costa Rica for Full City, FC+ or even Vienna. At these roast levels, especially FC or FC+, the cup has a really nice chocolate bittersweet, with a fruited/winey aspect in the background. The body is medium but has a fine, silky testure.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.3
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.0
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.5
Body – Movement (1-5) 3.4
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.6
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0.0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Great body, slightly winey and berry, clean.
add 50 50.0 Roast: Full City to Full City+; this is a later crop coffee and I don’t like the lighter roasts here, but a FC to FC+ is a great cup! It has chocolate, silky body, and a fruity-winey backdrop.
Score (Max. 100) 85.0 Compare to: Deep Costa Rican coffees, with good chocolate roast taste at FC or FC+ roast levels
Costa Rica La Candelilla “Miel”
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: Tarrazú Mark: Hacienda La Candelilla
Processing: Pulp Natural (Brazil Style) Process Crop: July 2005 Arrival Appearance: .1 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen Varietal: Caturra, Red Catuai
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.2 Notes: La Candelilla is an estate located in La Sabana on the River Pirris, west of San Marcos de Tarrazu and 35 miles SE of San Jose. The coffee is grown at an altitude of between 1,200 and 1,900 meters (very high for Costa Rica). It’s an old farm; La Candelilla was established by Victor Mora around 1900, while the mill was opened by the current owners, Rafael and Lucia Sanchez, in the summer of 2000. The owners of La Candelilla are committed to environmentally friendly policies in the cultivation and processing of the good quality coffee. And they are willing to take on some unusual processing techniques, which is what we have here. This is a “Miel” coffee, processed using a Brazil-style method called Pulp Natural. “Miel” (meaning honey) is rare (and risky) in Central America. When it was good, this coffee had great body, a husky sweet “wild-honey” cup with moderate acidity. It is great as a brewed/press coffee, it is great as straight espresso (if the brightness/acidity in the cup can be moderated by roasting technique), it is great in espresso blends, especially with top quality Brazils. To do this method, you pulp the skin off the coffee cherry, and without removing the fruity mucilage layer, sun-dry the remaining seed on raised beds, called air drying or African beds in other places. The long contact the fruit has with the parchment layer changes the character of the green coffee inside the parchment, and has this unique effect on the cup. The Candelilla estate pulped natural “Miel” is different from the El Salvador we have had. I cupped this coffee the traditional way at several degrees of roast, the darker ones intended more for my espresso machine than brewing. But the aromas from the dark roasts were so unique, with the expected carbony pungency, but also lively spice aromas, sweet and fruited. At City+ roast the coffee had the husky “miel” sweetness to it. With more roast, warming spice and chocolate emerged to back up the fruits. Darker roast Costa Ricans have never made sense to me as brewed coffee (they get too thin, too insipid) but here were darker (FC+ to light Vienna) roasts that had heft, complexity, and great body. There’s a waxy, oily mouthfeel to back up the considerable complexity. I did not go to Full French on this (I never do, even my espresso isn’t roasted that dark), and the real peak of flavor was about 15 seconds into 2nd crack on my drum sample roaster. In espresso, the Candelilla is a bit acidic for a straight shot (since it is a true Tarrazu coffee from high elevation), but is great as a 33% component in espresso blends. You can also roast it in a way that mutes the acidity a bit, and get good single-estate espresso shots.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.2
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.3
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.5
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 4.4
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.4
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium to bold intensity / at darker roasts – complexity, body, ripe fruit and chocolate
add 50 50 Roast: I like Full City+, for brewed and press coffee, and a bit darker too (Light Vienna, about 15 seconds into 2nd crack). The Full City espresso is intense and maybe too bright.
Score (Max. 100) 86 Compare to: A very different coffee from Costa Ricans, great for darker roasts. You can read more about La Candelilla Estate here.
Costa Rica La Minita Tarrazú
 Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: Tarrazú Mark: La Minita
Processing: Washed Crop: September 2005 Arrival Appearance: 0 d/300gr16/17scr Varietal: Hibrido Typica, Catuaí, Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.3 Notes: La Minita is a pedigree coffee for sure. You can open countless coffee books (Kummer’s Joy of Coffee and Knox’s Coffee Basics to name two) and read endless praise of the Bill McAlprin’s La Minita farm and their exacting standards. It is so well thought of that at SCAA seminars I heard it referred to by 3 separate speakers: ” When you cup the finest coffees, like a La Minita for instance …” and so on. What’s neat is that La Minita really does stand up as tall as its reputation (unlike JBM’s, some Hawaiians, etc.). And it does so not by conking you over the head with its power. It’s actually milder in acidity compared to some other Costa Rican coffees from the Tarrazú region. What it has is a refined sweetness in the cup, balance. It’s a very mild coffee and each time I roast it and every time I brew it I feel like I am on the verge of discovering something new there. For me, it has a fresh apple fruitiness to it, and next time I get apple cider notes. There’s some spice, sometimes cardamom, sometimes coriander, sometimes anise, and in the lither roasts an almondy roast taste with vanilla hints. The aromatics are sweet and clean. It’s always a refined, clean cup, but keep the roast light if you can (see roast notes below). The farm itself is a model of perfection in terms of technical standards and beauty. The coffee is milled and prepared meticulously and is not brokered by an indifferent third party, but by Hacienda La Minita themselves. It’s also a model for how quality can sustain super-premium prices in a very unstable coffee market. The La Minita model is so successful that they begin to apply the same exacting standards to other coffees, and yielding premium prices. Note the roast comments below … we are now approaching the window of time (mid-December to late-March or so when new crop high-grown Costa Rican Tarrazu arrives.) when we run out of La Minita. The cup quality now suits a little more roast, a Full City, Full City+ or even light Vienna to develop darker nutty-chocolatey notes in the cup.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.3
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.7
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.3
Body – Movement (1-5) 3.0
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.5
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0.0
add 50 50.0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Clean, delicate , sweet cup.
Roast: City to Full City+: My preference with the La Minita is for a light City roast early in the season (which is now …April-October, roughly) and a bit darker from November through the new crop arrival, which is usually in April. I just think the early shipments are best roasted to accentuate the high notes in the cup, and later it is better to roast for the medium range. I also really like to blend 2 roasts of La Minita, one at City and one at Full City – delicious and a bit more complex!
Score (Max. 100) 85.1 Compare to: The epitome of delicate, refined, clean Central American coffee.
Costa Rican “SM Select” Peaberry
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: Tres Rios Mark: Prepared for
Sweet Maria’s
Processing: Wet Process Crop: Late June 2005 Arrival Appearance: 0 d/300gr, Peaberry screen Varietal: Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.3 Notes: For the second year, we are able to offer a really special Peaberry lot we had prepared for us with the the help of an extremely fine cupper in Costa Rica, and an excellent mill. This year, we have focused on Tres Rios for our special Peaberry (the Tarrazu crop was small this season), and the results are a Costa RIca coffee with excellent intensity and aftertaste. Once again, I have to be a bit vague about the friends who have helped us select this lot, but when you think of extremely high quality Costa Rican coffees, the correct name will come to mind. They were willing to hand-select peaberries from lots through this excellent Tres Rios mill and assemble the lot based on overall cup profile of these coffees. The project was overseen by a true “master cupper” at Beneficio del Tres Rios and this resulting coffee is more a tribute to his abilities than to anything I did. (I suppose I had the good sense to start the project!) Just like a master vintner would combine wines made from particular parts of the vineyard, he has created a really complex cup with a lot more character and intensity that many Costa Rican offerings. And there is a lot to be done in the roaster with this coffee, with fantastic results for those with the ability to slow the roast in the interstice between first and second crack. The dry fragrance from the ground coffee is impressive; a dusky, pungent chocolate with toffee sweetness. The aroma is sweeter, with lingering spicy hints of clove and cinnamon, and vanilla. In the cup, there’s a caramelly body, perhaps more body than any Costa I have had as of late. There’s mild rose-floral nuances in the lighter City+ roast, with roasted hazelnut and pepper pungency. A bit darker means a bit more pungent spice, and more bittersweet in the chocolate. It alternates between sweet and bittersweet long into the aftertaste (which is particularly long for a Costa Rican). Now, Costas are still mild to medium intensity, clean coffees, but this is a cup you can explore on your palate and find subtlety in … and toying with roast levels and profiles yields some neat variations in the cup!
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.3
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.7
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.8
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 3.7
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 9
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 1 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / good body, long aftertaste, chocolate and nuts
add 50 50 Roast: See the notes above – I prefer it at a true Full City, stopped right on the verge of 2nd crack without entering it. It is a great cup lighter or darker than that, either a City+ or a Full City+ …
Score (Max. 100) 87.8 Compare to: A bold cup for a Costa in aftertaste and nice body. These merit a +1 correction.
Costa Rican Tres Rios – La Magnolia
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: Tres Rios Mark: La Magnolia
Processing: Wet-processed Crop: June 2005 arrival  Appearance: 0 d/300gr, 16-17 Screen Varietal: Catuai and Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.5

Notes: This is going to sound ridiculous, but this coffee has a lot of “coffee flavor”. I just don’t know how else to describe the clean, balanced charm of this cup profile, and it has been like this for years. We have been stocking the La Magnolia, a coffee milled to exacting standards, for quite a few years now. The coffee comes from a small beneficio, and used to be sold exclusively in Europe. And year after year this mill is producing a consistently excellent cup under the classic La Magnolia trade name. Each year I put it up against all the other Costa samples in a blind cupping, and it simply shimmers. By now it’s no surprise when I turn over the I.D. card for the sample and see it’s the La Magnolia. There are both mid-range floral and hazelnut hints in the dry fragrance, along with a mild secondary aroma of caraway seed. The wet aromatics turn much more lively and dynamic, with citrus-flower blooms and the smell of sweet bread baking. The cup has a light body and a mild intensity to match, a beautifully delicate and refined cup. It has nippy tangerine citrus flavors with just a twist of rind, a crystalline sugar sweetness, and a beautifully sweet finish. Roasted to a City+, this is one of the most beautiful and delicate coffees my palate has had the pleasure of enjoying. It is especially true with the La Magnolia that any dirtiness in your brewing system will show up very clearly in this cup, about as desirable as stepping on a thorn … so keep your stuff clean and enjoy this sweet nuanced cup! I think it’s a more complex cup than last year, but still has the top end of the flavor spectrum, that crystal clear brightness that defines the really good Costa Rican coffees.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.3
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.7
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.5
Body – Movement (1-5) 2.9
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.5
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0.0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Delicate acidity, floral and citric
Add 50 50.0 Roast: City Roast: You lose the delicate bright flavors if you roast this too dark. But if you want a tangy dark roast with a light body …go for it.
Score (Max. 100) 86.3 Compare to: More complex than the usual Tres Rios coffees, a bright, clean cup with good spice and fruit.
Costa Rican Dota -El Conquistador
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: Dota, Tarrazú Mark: CoopeDota, El Conquistador
Processing: Wet-processed Crop: June 2005 arrival Appearance: 0 d/300gr, 16-17 Screen Varietal: Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.2 Notes: Dota is a small subregion of the Tarrazú valley, more remote than the areas where most of the coffee is planted. And for years this particular coffee, El Conquistador, went to a single roaster in Germany. Great Dota coffees are fairly small sized seeds, with greater density due to the high altitudes they are cultivated at. Some roasters used to believe that the unique Dota cup character was the result of extra fermentation times at the mill during the wet-processing of the coffee. But it fact it is processed the same way that other Tarrazú coffees are, with the same fermentation times. The difference is in the unique soils that are found in the Dota micro-region of Tarrazú. We have stocked this coffee for several years now and in each blind cupping to new-crop Costas it is always a standout (but often in a slightly different way). This lot of Dota Conquistador is really exceptional, well-fruited, creamy and refined all at once. When this cup is piping hot, the first impression is a deep balance between low acids-brightness (especially for a Costa Rican from such high altitudes), and mild fruits. It is markedly different from other Costa Ricans; this is not a “nutty” coffee (a tough term to affix to coffees since it is dependent on the roast – some nuttiness is bad and is due to low-grown character or to the dreaded Catimor cultivar). The acidity is there, but it is very clean and registers itself in a very understated way. The body is exceptional and velvety, and cups range from milk chocolate to bittersweet depending on variations in the degree of roast. As the cup cools, it seems to reveal itself in layers. The brightness emerges a bit more. The caramel roast taste sweetens, and there’s more than a hint of fresh berry in the finish. The berry in this cup is the clincher for me! It’s subtle, it’s very clean but it is there. And there’s a slight winey quality to it too. This cup is mild overall (and that is meant in the best of ways), and infinitely charming – if you ever get tired of being clubbed over the head with the outrageous flavors from a coffee like Harar, turn to this casually cup seductive cup!
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.3
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.0
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.5
Body – Movement (1-5) 3.4
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 9.0
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 1.0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Great body, slightly winey and berry, clean.
add 50 50.0 Roast: City to Full City, a range of roasts work well on this coffee, and each reveal a slightly different roast taste that pairs well with the fruit: Roasted nuts in the lighter roasts, dark chocolate at Full City+ .
Score (Max. 100) 86.4 Compare to: Deep complex Costa Rican coffees, with distinct deep, clean character that makes it unique among the best quality CR coffees…
Costa Rican Organic – La Amistad
Country: Costa Rica Grade: SHB Region: La Amistad Mark: Hacienda
La Amistad
Processing: Wet-processed Crop: March 05 New Crop Appearance: 0 d/300gr, 16/17scr Varietal: Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.0

Notes: Hacienda La Amistad is located out there in coffee farm “lonesome town,” isolated from the large well-known Costa Rica growing regions (Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Dota, Wwest Valley, etc.) near the in the La Amistad nature preserve. (Click here for a map -red dot is farm.) The La Amistad farm is located above 1200 meters and is next to the border between Costa Rica and Panama, in fact I have walked into the La Amistad nature preserve from Finca Hartmann in the Panama region of Volcan. This farm has been a family farm for generations and the family has kept much of it as natural forest. It is now a “National Private Protected Area” called Las Tablas, which forbids people from hunting, extracting wood or doing any damage to the area. The reserve is located next to the National Park, La Amistad, one of the few National Parks between two countries and is the largest reserve area in Costa Rica. It is also the location of the new La Amistad Biosphere. Coffee is the main crop of the farm, but it also is largely self-sufficient, with some of the other activities contributing to the quality of the coffee; there are organic vegetable gardens on the estate, growing jalapeno and sweet peppers to make their own organic salsa. The farm has plenty of native shade trees, and in addition to these, Erythrina and leguminous trees were added for a supply of Nitrogen to the coffee system. The coffee from The streams from the rain forest supply the water for washing the coffee as well as the power source for the farm, due to it’s own hydro-electrical plant. The fertilizers for the coffee plants come from composting the waste from the animals, the cherry pulp, leaves, and ashes. The coffee is dried on cement patios as weather conditions permit and is then sent for milling, which is done to our specific and very strict standards. Now, I admit, I have been under-whelmed by the La Amistad in recent years. It’ is so mild it falls flat on it’s face; no muscle, no scructure. But I always cup everything despite my own opinions and proclaimations … and what I find here is an early lot that is clean, sweet, balanced, with really nice nut and milk chocolate roast tastes. To me this means 2 things: It is a great breakfast coffee and it’s a crowd-pleaser; you’ll like it, family will like it, grandma will like it. And it brews verrrrry nice in a vacuum brewer too.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.3
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.0
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.3
Body – Movement (1-5) 3.4
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.3
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0.0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Great balance, milk chocolate roast taste (City+ Roast)
add 50 50.0 Roast: City+: see notes above. I don’t think this is a great Costa for dark roasts, but it does do a nice single-Estate espresso at Full City+
Score (Max. 100) 84.3 Compare to: Balanced, crowd-pleasing, approachable Central American coffee; the “classic” clean cup profile.
Dominican Republic  

See the 2001-2002 Review Archive

Ecuador 

See the 2003-2004 Archive

El Salvador  is filed under S for Salvador

Ethiopia 
Ethiopia FTO Dry-Process Sidamo
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 5 Region: Sidamo Mark: Oromia Co-op,
Certified Organic and Fair Trade
Processing: Dry-processed Crop: December 2006 arrival Appearance: 1.6 d/300gr,
17-18 Screen		 Varietal: Heirloom Moka Longberry seedstock
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.5 Notes: This dry-processed coffee from the Sidamo region has a husky character, more of the typical flavors that are inherent to natural dry-processed coffees: earthy, a little hidey, pungent, fruity, and with a very long aftertaste. Only in the past few years have Organic and Fair Trade coffees come from Ethiopia, and all are from a single huge cooperative called the Oromia co-op. They represent many small farms in many regions, and while the regions are certainly kept distinct (Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, Etc) the individual farms are too small to sell each coffee as discrete lots. So some of these pooled co-op lots can be pretty good, and a few are excellent. It takes cupping to sort through all the offerings, and this year I found 2 lots that were really nice, one dry-processed coffee from Sidamo and one wet-processed coffee from Yirgacheffe (although both are totally different in the cup). My warning about this Sidamo, some cups are a little too funky for me, earthy, hidey and a touch musty. Others cups are pleasurably potent, with that touch of wildness but not too much. It is not at all unexpected to have variation batch to batch, bag to bag, and cup to cup with a natural dry-processed coffee like this. For me, it is not a drawback – I like to taste the differences between the batches I roast! All cups are heavily fruited, like dried unsulphered natural apricot. ( In terms of fruit, the majority of my roasts had that wild, dried blueberry note … but not every roast, nor every cup, so it is worth mentioning but not dwelling upon too much). There’s everything else in here too; exotic spice (cardamom allspice). It’s intense stuff… As far as variable cups goes, this is true with all dry-processed coffees, and always true with the Ethiopian dry-processed. It’s just part of the sun-dried coffee process where whole cherry is patio-dried, then the whole husk and parchment is removed in one step, and all defective coffee seeds are removed by visual sorting. That means a few decent-looking seeds will make it through the process that are indeed a bit over-ripe or under-ripe. Cull out any really, really light-colored seeds after roasting. Some cuppers will hate this (ones who like only clean, polite coffees) and me, I love it for its bold earthiness and heavyweight character. There were many disappointing Ghimbi and Sidamo dry-processed lots I cupped this year, and this particular “chop” was the exception!
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.4
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.2
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.6
Body – Mouthfeel  (1-5) 3.5
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.3
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity/Heavy body and strong “natural” character (earth, fruit)
add 50 50 Roast: Full City + roast is best: I like a more developed roast taste which aids some bittersweetness to the cup and compliments the fruit notes
Score (Max. 100) 85.7 Compare to: Classic Dry-process coffees of Ethiopia and Yemen. Please note: This coffee does have a high defect count. It is not a “poster child” of good dry processed preparation. Nonetheless, the cup can be very good: I recommend removing the extremely light beans after roasting, before brewing. I am not talking about ones just a little lighter than the norm. It is expected for roasted color variation in this coffee! I am talking about the very, very light tan ones, and there might be 4-8 of them in a batch (note the defect count for this coffee). These are underripe cherries, “quakers” as they are called in the trade (why?). You can also do a neat experiment and grind these up separately and brew a cup from them – interesting!
Ethiopia Organic Idido Misty Valley DP
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 1 (!) Region: Idido, Gedio Area, Yirga-Cheffe Mark: Idido town, “Misty Valley” mark
Processing: Screen Dry-Processed Crop: January 2007 Arrival Appearance: .2 d/300gr, 16-18 Screen Varietal: Longberry and shortberry Ethiopia cultivars
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 4 Notes: This is a special lot of dry-processed (DP) coffee from an area within Yirgacheffe: Idido town in the Gedio area of Yirgacheffe. This is quite different from the Natural Yirgacheffe lot we had earlier this season, a much better preparation of the green coffee, uniform roasting, and unique in its flavor profile. As you know, the tradition in Yirgacheffe is wet-processing, whereas Harar has a dry-processing tradition. Wet-processing is the method used in Central America and the like, resulting in a green seed with a cleaner cup profile, and less earthy or rustic cup flavors. Dry-processing involves drying the entire coffee cherry in the sun, and later removeing the skin, fruity mucilage layer and protective parchment shell that surranounds the green seed … all in one fell swoop. Excellent dry-processed coffees are difficult because the milling method for wet-processing allows for separation of ripe and unripe coffee cherry (and other defective seeds) using water and machines. But in dry-processing, sorting ou under-ripes is done visually, either by sorting the ripe cherry, or later, sorting the “green” bean. (You probably know from experience with Harar and the like that the dry-processed green bean is in fact yellow, mostly because it has more of the silverskin, the chaff, still attached to it). The problem in Ethiopia is this: traditional dry-processed coffee is NOT pre-sorted to include only ripe red coffee cherry and it is sun-dried in a rather haphazard fashion. The difference with this lot is night and day (as an experienced eye can see when you look at the unroasted coffee), this originates with ripe cherry, is uniformaly screen-dried in the sun, and has been dry-milled using the same screen and density-sorting techniques as wet-processed lots. And the result is amazing: it is both a traditional “moka” type coffee flavor (chocolate and fruit) with Yigacheffe accents (floral, citrus) and no distracting, overly-earthy notes. Given that, the darker roasts (FC+, Vienna) are surprisingly pungent, with a intense tobacco aromatic, dark chocolate roast taste, and tannic grape skin notes in the background. But it is the City+ roast where the cup has intense sweetness, and liveliness. The dry fragrance is honeyed, with cherry fruit notes, and vanilla. Add water and the sweetness becomes sharper, and sweet mango fruit aromas emerge, with floral and citric hints. Cup flavors are like fruit candy, like marmalade. There are tropical fruits, and sweet orange and citrus flowers. Unlike light roasts of other dry-processed Ethiopias, there is a noticeable refinement and clarity to the finish of the Idido Misty Valley cup.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4.4
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.8
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 9.4
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 3.6
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 9.2
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 2 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium-Bold intensity / Clean, bright, floral and fruited cup  
add 50 50 Roast: City + is where you will experience the most here, FC+ to Vienna is nice and bittersweet too. … see the comments above
Score (Max. 100) 91.4 Compare to: A fantastic dry-processed Ethiopia without remarkable clarity in the cup flavors, and laced with bright floral notes a la Yirga-Cheffe.
Ethiopia Late Harvest Yirgacheffe
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 2 Region: Yirga’Cheffe Mark: n/a
Processing: Wet-processed Crop: December 2006 Arrival Appearance: .4 d/300gr, 16 Screen Varietal: Ethiopian Cultivar
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 4.0 Notes: Yirgacheffe will beat you with a flower. It is truly a seductive coffee! Yirgacheffe is a town in Sidamo region, a high plateau north of Harar. Yirgacheffe (also spelled Yergacheffe and Yirga Cheffe) should mean (as an apellation, “highest quality, most fruity acidity” compared to washed Limmu and washed Sidamo, or else the name doesn’t mean anything at all! I cupped Yirgacheffe hard this year, and there were a lot of interesting samples with strikingly different cup character, from tart citrus to overly mild samples. All-in-all, there are great Ethiopian Yirgs this year, while a nice Harar was just a pipedream. But you have to do a lot of cupping of individual lots to find them, and it’s a lot of work. I think, to be self-critical, I can get to focused on quantity of certiain cup qualities , such as acidity. If cupping Yirgs becomes only an “acidity contest” then palate fatigue will ensue quickly: there is enough acidity in some Yirgs to etch glass and de-plate silverware. Okay, that’s not true, but my point is the the logic of quantity over the aestheic of total cup quality makes little sense except when you look at numbers. At a time of year when we run out of Yirgacheffe, it looks like we will ahve some stock on this exquisite coffee for a while. Why? There happened to be some 2006 Late Harvest coffee that had great character, whereas usually the tail end of the crop is a mere shadow of the middle-crop pickings. Here we have that sweet, citric quality that is expected from a great, traditional, wet-process Yirg. Look for a flavor that is almost like honey-sweetened tangerine and lemon at City+ . Another cupper thought there was a roast/origin taste in here that was “honey graham cracker” and I could not agree more … but only in the lighter roast. I like this coffee roasted at City or City +, which highlights the strongest quality of a great Yirgacheffe, the brightness, even though the coffee lacks some body and depth at this roast level. It is how Ethiopians roast coffee, quite light … in fact they roast it so light that I don’t think it passes through first crack! I am not recommending that, but it would be interesting to add the term “Ethiopian Roast” to our lexicon to describe utlra-light roasting. Anyway, darker roasts still have citric quality but it becomes eclipsed by “roast taste” to the detriment of the “origin flavors”. FC+ is passable but Vienna roast I cannot abide.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4.3
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.9
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 9.0
Body-Mouthfeel (1-5) 2.9
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 9.1
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0.0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium to bold/ sweet tangerine/lemon citrus
add 50 50.0 Roast: Keep this out of 2nd crack as much as you can – I think Yirgs get weird if roasted into 2nd crack too much, although others like that. It’s delicate notes are at their prime just before the coffee has any indication of 2nd crack.
Score (Max. 100) 88.2 Compare to: Traditional Wet-process Yirgacheffe. Remember, Washed Ethiopians have a much different cup character than Dry-Processed Ethiopians… this is a high-toned coffee, clean coffee, more like wet-processed Central Americans and certain Kenyas.
Ethiopian Sidamo WP Decaf
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 5 Region: Sidamo Mark: Horse, WP Decaf
Processing: wet-processed, then water process decaf Crop: December 2006 arrival Appearance: 1 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen Varietal: Ethiopia seedstock
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.7 Notes: It seems inevitable that a name we put on a coffee is going to be this complicated; why not just make up fanciful names like Abyssinia Delight or African Trader or … well, I would rather just stick to the facts, and in this case the facts are: Wet-processed coffee from the Sidamo region, processed for decaf using the WP (Water Process) non-chemical method. Now that’s confusing. This is still very much a Sidamo and that’s the beauty of the new WP decafs — I can’t tell you how pleased I am with these new water process decafs, a breakthrough in cup quality. But the secret is the coffee sent down to the decaffeination plant is really, really good lots of green coffee, and not whatever doesn’t sell, or whatever the plant has laying around. That’s the old way of thinking in decafs: they have usually been the lowest priced green lots, or the overstock. So here we started with an exceptional lot of Ogsaddey Wet-process Sidamo, a birght, floral and fruited cup, highly aromatic. And we end up with something that can be described exactly the same way. This decaf Sidamo has all the top-end bright notes and floral-fruit flavors endemic to a really good Sidamo. I has medium body, nice aromatics of fruit, wild-honeyed roast tastes, with a long finish. There are orangey citric notes, and a bit of syrup in the finish. If I cupped this blind I would never ever suspect it was decaffeinated.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.8
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.3
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.6
Body – Movement (1-5) 3.7
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.4
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity/ Fruited Sidamo-esque cup with medium body  
add 50 50 Roast: City+ to Full City + roast is best: I like a more developed roast taste which aids some bittersweetness to the cup and compliments the fruit notes. I actually (accidentally) did a super, super light roast on this and it turned out very nice too – but a bit too “bright” in overall tone.
Score (Max. 100) 86.5 Compare to: Classic wet-process coffees of Ethiopia, perhaps a bit cleaner than the really earthy non-decaf Sidamo coffees
Ethiopian Organic Dry-Process Sidamo
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 4 Region: Sidamo Mark: Trabocca,
Certified Organic
Processing: Dry-processed Crop: August 2006 arrival Appearance: 1.8 d/300gr,
17-18 Screen		 Varietal: Heirloom Moka Longberry seedstock
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.8 Notes: This dry-processed coffee from the Sidamo region has a husky character, more of the typical flavors that are inherent to natural dry-processed coffees: earthy, a little hidey, pungent, fruity, and with a very long aftertaste. Only in the past few years have Organic and Fair Trade coffees come from Ethiopia. Some of these pooled co-op lots can be pretty good, and a few are excellent. It takes cupping to sort through all the offerings, and this year I found 2 lots that were really nice, one dry-processed coffee from Sidamo and one wet-processed coffee from Yirgacheffe (although both are totally different in the cup). This lot has both berry fruit and dried apricot. It has less distractions in terms of earthy and leathery flavors too, common in DP Sidamo coffees. There’s everything else in here too; exotic spice, fresh tobacco, herbs. And oddly enough when we started to brew our test roasts (in this case, the Technivorm), we had ton of blueberry syrup flavors in the cup, something that was not very pronounced on the cupping table. It’s intense stuff. As far as variable cups goes, this is true with all dry-processed coffees, and always true with the Ethiopian dry-processed. It’s just part of the sun-dried coffee process where whole cherry is patio-dried, then the whole husk and parchment is removed in one step, and all defective coffee seeds are removed by visual sorting. That means a few decent-looking seeds will make it through the process that are indeed a bit over-ripe or under-ripe. You can cull out any really, really light-colored seeds after roasting, or leave them in. As a fun experiment, you can try to grind and brew the light ones, or simple munch on them to get a sense of what they contibute or detract from the cup. In a strict sense (that we grade wet processed coffees) they are defective: underripes. But they are a part of the coffee culture, and the cup, with Ethiopian coffees, where there is no wet-mill equipment to sort coffee; it is all done with the hand and eye.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4.0
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.4
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.8
Body – Mouthfeel  (1-5) 3.5
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.8
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 1 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity/Heavy body and strong “natural” character – dry fruit, apricot, berry.
add 50 50 Roast: Full City + roast is best: I like a more developed roast taste which aids some bittersweetness to the cup and compliments the fruit notes
Score (Max. 100) 88.3 Compare to: Classic Dry-process coffees of Ethiopia and Yemen.
Ethiopia FTO Dry-Proceess Lekempti
Country: Ethiopia Grade: Gr.5 Natural Region: Lekempti (Ghimbi region) Mark: Fair Trade and Organic Certified
Processing: Dry-Processed Crop: Sept. 2006 Arrival Appearance: 3 d/300gr, 18 Screen Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopia seedstock
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.3 Notes: Does your city have a produce market? I don’t mean a farmer’s market, a place for (perhaps) vanity fruit and heirloom veggies at premium prices. I mean a market where the restaurant trade shops. I mean a place that is a mixture of the ecstasy of fantastic aromas and the revulsion of fermented rotten fruit, perhaps immediately underfoot. Whereever there is a floor drain the smell is especially strong, so as you walk around you pass from zones of delight to those of sensory torture, and back again. Okay, that’s just an analogy for understanding this lot of natural, dry-processed Ethiopia Lekempti … don’t take it too literally. But the analogy holds: the dry fragrance is a mixture of every fruit possible, mango, apricot, plum, grape, passionfruit. The best description I could possibly narrow it too is “pulpy fruit.” And there are hints of that ripe-to-overripe fruited flavor; the edge is somewhere in this cup, and the sense of good fruit notes versus “too fruity” is transversed several times in the time span between a hot cup and as it ebbs to room temperature. In the cup, I find a strong “apricot tea” character, definite mango and papaya. I think to myself that this is an intense coffee with strong flavor character, knowing full well that this comes from the tradition of Ethiopian dry-processing, from the fact the coffee cherry sat too long in contact with the bean, that this coffee would be called “fermented” by most cuppers. So if a coffee is “defective” but it is also delicious, what is the final judgement on it? And there is a rustic chocolate to the cup, almond oil, hints of sage. As it cools, there is more tobacco, more earth/humus, more pulpy/fermenty dimension to the fruit, and a bit of apricot pit tightness, a bit of wet cardboard (?). Now I start to see the negative aspects, and those snarky cuppers who would dismiss it as fermenty start to seem right. And yet, I am still enjoying the cup, keying in on the rustic sweetness, dried fruit, prune, dried unsulphered apricot. Well, this is indeed an edgy coffee, and how long it’s positive flavor characteristics will hold up is uncertain. But instead of simply arguing this point with my coffee cupping peers, and with myself, I decided to offer this lot to you for your consideration. After all, Aged coffees and Monsooned coffees, which we offer, are also “defective” coffees, exceptions we make on the basis of historical prescedent, coffee culture, and exotic taste. For those in the trade, the issues involved cut to the core, but instead of writing a Master’s thesis here, I will expound elsewhere.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.4
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.2
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.8
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 3.6
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.0
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity / Fruity, fruity, fruity  
add 50 50 Roast: C+ to FC to Vienna
Score (Max. 100) 85.3 Compare to: This is a limit-case in how much fruity character is acceptable in Ethiopia Dry Processed coffee. While I add or take away no correction points, this coffee would be scored fruity/fermenty by many cuppers. This is my take on the coffee, now you decide! Is it “too much”.
Ethiopian FTO Yirgacheffe -Oromia Coop
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 2 Region: Yirgacheffe (in Sidamo) Mark: Oromia Co-op, Fair Trade, Organic
Processing: Wet-processed Crop: April 2006 Arrival Appearance: .6 d/300gr, 16-17 Screen Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopian Cultivar
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 4.0 Notes: Only in the past few years have Organic and Fair Trade coffees come from Ethiopia, and all are from a single huge cooperative called the Oromia co-op. They represent many small farms in many regions, and while the regions are certainly kept distinct (Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, Etc) the individual farms are too small to sell each coffee as discrete lots. So some of these pooled co-op lots can be average, some pretty good, and a few are excellent. It takes cupping to sort through all the offerings, and this year I found 3 lots that were really nice last year, one dry-processed coffee from Sidamo, one Harar (perhaps the best of the past season) and one wet-processed coffee from Yirgacheffe (although both are totally different in the cup). And this year I I found this FTO – Fair Trade and Organic Certified – Yirgacheffe lot from Oromia that is really outstanding. This Yirgacheffe is bright but not the most tart acidity we see in Yirgacheffe. I guess that is why when describing the citrus (and all good Yirgacheffe has citrus) I think of lemon custard, a toned down, sweet, balanced citric quality. The brightness here is not that biting or sour type; it is quite well integrated with the other cup flavors. Look for a flavor that is almost like honey-sweetened lemonade at City+, and do not mind that appearance of the coffee in the lighter roast, a bit uneven and the beans with wrinkled surface texture. Another cupper thought there was a roast/origin taste in here that was “graham cracker”; I think it actually has a more nutty (hazelnut) quality, and the finish turns to a tangy bittersweetness. I like this coffee roasted at City or City +, which highlights the strongest quality of a great Yirgacheffe, the brightness, even though the coffee lacks some body and depth at this roast level. It is how Ethiopians roast coffee, quite light … in fact they roast it so light that I don’t think it passes through first crack! I am not recommending that, but it would be interesting to add the term “Ethiopian Roast” to our lexicon to describe utlra-light roasting. Anyway, darker roasts still have citric quality but it becomes eclipsed by “roast taste” to the detriment of the “origin flavors”. FC+ is passable but Vienna roast I cannot abide.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4.2
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 9.0
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 9.0
Body-Mouthfeel (1-5) 2.8
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 9.0
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0.0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium to bold/ citric brightness
add 50 50.0 Roast: Keep this out of 2nd crack as much as you can – I think Yirgs get weird if roasted into 2nd crack too much, although others like that. It’s delicate notes are at their prime just before the coffee has any indication of 2nd crack.
Score (Max. 100) 88.0 Compare to: Remember, Washed Ethiopians have a much different cup character than Dry-Processed Ethiopians… this is a high-toned coffee, clean coffee, more like wet-processed Central Americans and certain Kenyas.
Ethiopian Organic Wet-Processed Sidamo
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 4 Region: Sidamo Mark: Oromia Organic Cert.
Processing: Wet Process Crop: May 2006 arrival Appearance: 0 d/300gr, 16 Screen Varietal: Ethiopian Arabica, Shortberry and Longberry
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 4

Notes: Wet-processed Sidamo is a coffee we usually don’t stock: it is similar in the cup to Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, another wet-process coffee, and often cups out as a lesser cousin. The irony is this: Sidamo is a major coffee growing region in southern Ethiopia and Yirgacheffe is a small sub-region centered around a village of the same name. So in fact, Yirgacheffe coffees are Sidamos. How’s that for confusing? What I find when evaluating the wet-processsed Sidamo coffees is that every so often a unique lot comes along that, in a way, out-Yirgacheffes the Yirgacheffes. The fact is, wet-processed Sidamo is a pain, and simply confuses people used to the dry-processed Sidamo (totally different in the cup) and the Yirgs. It better be good if I am going to buy: What I am looking for is intense aromatics, a clean cup without taints, fruited and floral flavors, complexity, and good finish. This is it. This lot came in, I got the sample, called back to buy, and by the next morning the full lot (250 bags) was gone! That’s how it is with a good lot. Anyway, I probably over-roasted the first sample I prepared of this lot (it was Full City+, having gone a few snaps into 2nd crack). I like wet-processed Ethiopia coffees lighter. But it had great, sweet aromatics, good acidity, fruity and floral, with plum and raisin in the cup, black pepper in the finish, pungent spicey, and nice mouthfeel (more than Yirgacheffes). I was impressed, and thought I must of switched samples with a Yirgacheffe. I re-roasted to a more appropriate City+ (completly through first crack, no sign of 2nd crack) and the coffee just soared. The lively brightness in the cup held a perfect high note, while citrus accents came through in the fruited cup flavors. Oddly though, I found myself liking that Full City roast more, having this great complexity between sweet fruited notes, bright acidity and pungent spice, dark fruit, and roastiness. But you can’t go wrong with a roast of either C+ of FC here.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.8
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 9.2
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 9.0
Body – Mouthfeel(1-5) 3
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 9
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity/Incredible citric and floral brightness
Add 50 50

Roast: City+. Roast this too light and the cup is too sour, the roast taste is more like baked grain, rather than sweetly pungent. Also, I found that Full City-Full City+ resulted in great complexity -see the review notes.
Score (Max. 100) 88 Compare to: Bright, bold, floral, fruity cup similar to Ethiopia Yirgacheffe. If you dislike bright coffees, don’t buy this! Also, this coffee is NOT like the Dry-Process Sidamo.
Ethiopian Harar Horse -Green Stripe
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 4 Region: Hararghe Mark: M.A.O Horse – Green Stripe Preparation for S.M.
Processing: Dry Processed Crop: July 2006 Arrival Appearance: 1 d/300gr, 15- 18 Screen Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopian Arabica
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.8 Notes: Harar is intense. A really good Harar is a coffee that is fruited (blueberry to apricot), has flowery enzymatic aromas, jasmine tea, maple woodiness, exotic hide or fresh leather, mulling spice and chocolate… in other words, good Harar is like the fragrance of an open-air arabic market! Harars have pungent rustic chocolate roast flavors and a range of winy to fermented fruitiness. But this is a highly variable coffee, not just year-to-year, but lot-to-lot and sometimes even bag-to-bag! Some years might contain the coveted blueberry character and another year it can be completely absent from all lots. Some years are cleaner and more tea-like and others are heavier, more wild and earthy. Harars are wild, natural coffees; two euphemisms for natural dry-processed. MAO refers to the late Mohamed Abdullahi Ogsadey, and is the exporter that uses the Horse mark, a good source for Ethiopian coffees, often having the 1 or 2 really exceptional lots. But exporter’s mark is still not enough, you have to choose from lot to lot. I love good Harar and cup many lots of Harar Horse from 2 sources, and from 3 other exporters. Early lots this year were not initially thrilling, as has been my experience in the past. What we have here is a special project I initiated to have extra preparation (manual removal of defective seeds) to see the effect on the Harar. We set this up a long time before this current crop started to come in, so it was unknown how our special “Green Stripe” lot was going to cup compared to standard lots of DP Harar from Ogsadey, and compared to all the other Harar lots I regularily cup. But what a strange year it has been: an early lot (Lot 30) with great blueberry character, a solid lot after that (Lot 19) and then? Well, nothing. I cupped Harars to the verge of coffee nausea looking for something special, and it was not to be found. Earth, hide/leather; those were the dominate flavors in samples I evaluated from a host of sources. What happened? Bad weather, too much rain, too little: who knows! It seemed to be a crop-wide issue. But in the back of my mind I knew my special prep. lot was coming, and hoped it would be an exception. And I am glad to say it is, but not to the degree I had hoped. What we have here with Harar Horse Green Stripe is (and I can say this with surety) the best dry-process Harar lot since the early crop, and now that window has basically closed and there will be no new Harars until next year 2007. The dry fragrance has a lot of chocolate and cedar, and spice abounds in the cup (clove, pepper, nutmeg). Good earth notes have the suggestion of cocoa nibs, and in some cups (and with a slightly darker roast of FC+) it cupped out like Ibarra Mexican Hot Chocolate. Yes there is fruited notes (dry apricot, dry blueberry) but they aren’t the outrageous, booming variety of Lot 30. Still, there are moments where the Green Stripe seems to rank right up there: I blended and Full City batch I did, with a lighter City/City+ batch, and had one of the best Sunday morning brewed coffees I can remember! Still, even with the special hand preparation , there are still some defects as you will see when roasting (the lowest count of any Harar we have had in years though). So here we have a soild lot, one with flashes of brilliance, and the best Harar out there for sure.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4.0
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.0
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.6
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 3.6
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.6
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold Intensity/ Chocolate-cocoa, spice, fruited hints
add 50 50 Roast: Harar is most fruited in a lighter City + roast (completely through 1st crack, before 2nd crack), and turns deeply pungent in French roasts. Between the two, a Vienna roast can possess the best of both. I prefer City+ to Full City with this lot. Harar will roast unevenly, even this special prep. lot! This is not a bad thing, but if there are extremely pale beans in the roast you might want to cull them [at the risk of removing some of the extreme (earthy-husky) flavors in the cup]. See this image of Harar Green Stripe. As with all DP coffees, there can be small beans, and even an occasional rock – be aware of this.
Score (Max. 100) 86.6 Compare to: Rustic Dry-Process coffees with lots of aromatics.
Ethiopian FTO Yirgacheffe – Dry-Process
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 2 Region: Yirgacheffe Mark: Fair Trade, Organic Cert.
Processing: Dry-processed Crop: May 2006 Arrival Appearance: 1 d/300gr, 16-17 Screen Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopian Cultivar
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.8 Notes: Read the name of this coffee carefully, especially if you think you have tried all the Ethiopian coffees/origins out there. This is something quite new: It is Yirgachaffe, but it is DRY-PROCESS coffee. If you have had Yirgachffe before, you have only had wet-process, because this is the first offering of Dry-Process Yirgacheffe! The difference between a DP Yirg and a Wet-Process is huge, and this coffee resembles a DP Sidamo more than any other coffee. It has all the fruited notes, namely the dried fruit character. But it is distinct too. The preparation is excellent, but like all dry-process coffees it is not without a few odd seeds in there. You will not find it neceessary to cull out really light seeds after the roast, except occasionally. Your cup results are going to vary a lot with roast, but what I find is two basic themes that emerge: the lighter roast cup with dynamic fruited flavors, a nutty roast taste and fructose/maltose sweetness; and a Full City or darker roast with chocolate roast taste, muted fruits, pungent spice and dark roast sweetness. Lighter roasts have a drying finish, a bit of “tightness” in the aftertaste which is probably due to the presence of the occasional underripe coffee cherry. I find it worth enduring for the very lively fruits, which (although this might sound undesireable to some of you) can turn from dried fruit to sweet canned peaches at a real City/City+ roast level. Overall, I am really exicted about this coffee! Ask 95% of people in the coffee trade about Dry-Process Yirgacheffe and they will say you are confused and it doesn’t exist. I have a feeling this will become more widespread in the next few years as people find a taint-free cup with an incredibly long aftertaste, and fantastic, distinct cup character. But remember, this is for those who like Dry-Process Ethiopian and Yemen coffees, and if that rustic charm has left you cold in the past, this coffee might not be for you…
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.7
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.6
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.8
Body-Mouthfeel (1-5) 3.2
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 9.0
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 1.0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium to bold/ Dried fruit and rustic flavors
add 50 50.0 Roast: City+ to FC+, or even darker. Light roasts have dynamic dried fruit, and more of a peanutty roast taste, whereas chocolate roast taste emerges at 2nd crack (and fruit is diminished).
Score (Max. 100) 88.1 Compare to: Dry-process Sidamo – this coffee is very different from your typical Wet Process Yirgacheffe.
Ethiopia Harar WP Decaf
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 4 Region: Harar Mark: MAO Horse
Processing: Dry-process coffee, Water Process Decaf Crop: April 2006 Arrival Appearance: 1 d/300gr, 17 Screen Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopia Longberry Arabica
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.5 Notes: Here is another superb decaf coffee originating with a great lot of dry-processed Ethiopia Harar from MAO Horse. I can’t tell you how pleased I am with these new water process decafs; it’s truly a breakthrough in cup quality. But the secret is the coffee sent down to the plant is really, really good lots of green coffee, and not whatever doesn’t sell, or whatever the plant has laying around. That’s the old way of thinking in decafs: they have usually been the lowest priced green lots, or the overstock. Here we have a lot of great Harar lot, sent to the plant in Mexico for the non-chemical, natural, water process method of caffeine extraction. This is a really fine cup, with all the top-end bright notes and floral-fruit flavors found in an excellent non-decaf lot. The body is a bit light but even that is the case with the Ethiopian coffees in general, as compared to the wet-process Ethiopian coffees. It is floral and fruity in the aromatics, with just a hint of honey wine. It has a particular sweetness in the cup that is caramelly in character, and a bit of a barley sweetness in the cup at a lighter City roast. I prefer it taken to a Full City though, where the flavors are intensified and the roastiness more pronounced, without overwelming the floral notes at all.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.8
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.5
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.6
Body – Movement (1-5) 2.8
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.6
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium / clean and fruited
add 50 50 Compare to: A mild, sweet, lightly fruited lot of Harar
Score (Max. 100) 85.7 Roast: City to Full City. At the City Stage (first crack has completed and second has not yet begun) it is especially fruity, and at Full City (at the verge of 2nd crack or a few snaps into it) it develops a nice chocolate roast taste. Remember to roast by sound and smell, since the deeper roast color of decafs can be deceiving.
Ethiopian Dry-Process Ghimbi
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 5 Region: Ghimbi-Lekempti Mark: None
Processing: Dry-processed Crop: August 2005 arrival Appearance: 5 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen Varietal: Moka Longberry seedstock
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 4 Notes: This dry-processed coffee from the Ghimbi – Lekempti region has a bit of a husky character, more of the typical flavors that are inherent to natural dry-processed coffees: earthy, pungent, fruity, and with a very long aftertaste. Ghimbi is in the provence of Wollega in the western Ethiopia highlands, and in the coffee world it is lumped in with the adjacent Lekempti (technically, 80 miles to the east). Ghimbi coffees are considered to be a tier below Harars, but there are some awesome lots and this is one! This lot is for those not afraid of these natural cup flavors. Some cups are definitely funky, as the variable nautre of Ethiopia Dry-Process coffees are prone to be. Others cups are very pleasurably fruited, with that touch of wildness …but not too much. It is not at all unexpected to have variation batch to batch, bag to bag, and cup to cup with a natural dry-processed coffee like this. For me, it is not a drawback – I like to taste the differences between the batches I roast! All cups are heavily fruited, like dried unsulphered natural apricot. There’s everything else in here too; exotic spice (cardamom allspice). It’s intense stuff… As far as variable cups goes, this is true with all dry-processed coffees, and always true with the Ethiopian dry-processed. It’s just part of the sun-dried coffee process where whole cherry is patio-dried, then the whole husk and parchment is removed in one step, and all defective coffee seeds are removed by visual sorting. That means a few decent-looking seeds will make it through the process that are indeed a bit over-ripe or under-ripe. Cull out any really, really light-colored seeds after roasting. I had to score this coffee low for flavor and aftertaste and then add points back in a cupper’s correction … this because some cuppers will hate this (ones who like clean, polite coffees) and me, I love it for its bold earthiness and heavyweight character. In fact, the dry fragrant aromatics when you grind this coffee is worth any overly-husky character it might possess.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4.4
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.1
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.6
Body – Movement (1-5) 3.8
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.3
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity/great fragrance and strong “natural” character
add 50 50 Roast: Full City + roast is best: I like a more developed roast taste which aids some bittersweetness to the cup and compliments the fruit notes.
Score (Max. 100) 87.2 Compare to: Classic “rustic/natural” Dry-process coffees of Ethiopia and Yemen.
Ethiopian Harar Horse Lot 19
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 5 Region: Hararghe Mark: M.A.O Horse
Processing: Dry Processed Crop: April 2006 Arrival Appearance: 2.2 d/300gr, 15- 18 Screen Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopian Arabica
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.8 Notes: Harar is intense. A really good Harar is a coffee that is fruited (blueberry to apricot), has flowery enzymatic aromas, jasmine tea, maple woodiness, exotic hide or fresh leather, mulling spice and chocolate… in other words, good Harar is like the fragrance of an open-air arabic market! Harars have pungent rustic chocolate roast flavors and a range of winey to fermented fruitiness. But this is a highly variable coffee, not just year-to-year, but lot-to-lot and sometimes even bag-to-bag! Some years might contains the covented blueberry character and another year it can be completely absent from all lots. Some years are cleaner and more tea-like and others are heavier, more wild and earthy. Harars are wild, natural coffees; two euphemisms for natural dry-processed. The reason MAO is included here in the title is that this importer in Dire Dawa (the late Mohamed Abdullahi Ogsadey –see his certificate found in each bag) is a really good source for Ethiopian coffees, often having the 1 or 2 really exceptional lots. But exporter’s mark is still not enough, you have to choose from lot to lot. I love good Harar and cup many lots of Harar Horse from 2 sources, and from 3 other exporters. Early lots this year were not initially thrilling, as has been my experience in the past. Then this shocker, a literal aromatic expIosion in the grinder, and wet aromatics to match. Like all Harar coffees the cups can be inconsistent, and I would grade the preparation and defect count in this coffee as more imperfect than others. This does not mean a coffee lacks quality. And I think Harar is a worthwhile exception, because some of that Harar character is due to the range ripe-to-overripe coffee cherry, to the natural dry process method, and to the culture of the people who pick it and prepare it. This Lot 19 has strong aromatics, chocolate and spice, laced with fruit. In fact that could be the description of this cup from fragrance to aroma to cup flavor to aftertaste: rustic cocoa-chocolate; cinnamon, clove and pepper and herbs (sage, thyme); suggestions of dried apricot and blueberry, especially in the aromatics. I find the body in this cup a bit heavier than the previous Lot 30, with a caramelly sweetness undertone.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4.0
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.0
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.8
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 4.0
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.8
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold Intensity/ Chocolate-cocoa, spice, fruited hints
add 50 50 Roast: Harar is most fruited in a lighter City + roast (completely through 1st crack, before 2nd crack), and turns deeply pungent in French roasts. Between the two, a Vienna roast can possess the best of both. I prefer City+ with this lot. Harar will roast unevenly! This is not a bad thing, but if there are extremely pale beans in the roast you might want to cull them (at the risk of removing some of the extreme (earthy-husky) flavors in the cup. As with all DP coffees, there can be small beans, and even an occasional rock – be aware of this.
Score (Max. 100) 87.4 Compare to: Rustic Dry-Process coffees with lots of aromatics.
Ethiopian Harar Horse Lot 30
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 5 Region: Hararghe Mark: M.A.O Horse
Processing: Dry Processed Crop: March 2006 Arrival Appearance: 2.5 d/300gr, 15- 18 Screen Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopian Arabica
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 4.6 Notes: Harar is intense. A really good Harar is a coffee that is fruity (blueberry to apricot) and with flowery enzymatic aromas, jasmine tea, maple woodiness, exotic hide or fresh leather, mulling spice… in other words, good Harar is like the fragrance of an open-air arabic market! Harars have pungent rustic chocolate roast flavors and a range of winey to fermented fruitiness. But this is a highly variable coffee, not just year-to-year, but lot-to-lot and sometimes even bag-to-bag! Some years might contains the covented blueberry character and another year it can be completely absent from all lots. Some years are cleaner and more tea-like and others are heavier, more wild and earthy. Harars are wild, natural coffees; two euphemisms for natural dry-processed. The reason MAO is included here in the title is that this importer in Dire Dawa (the late Mohamed Abdullahi Ogsadey –see his certificate found in each bag) is a really good source for Ethiopian coffees, often having the 1 or 2 really exceptional lots. But exporter’s mark is still not enough, you have to choose from lot to lot. I love good Harar and cup many lots of Harar Horse from 2 sources, and from 3 other exporters. Early lots this year were not initially thrilling, as has been my experience in the past. Then this shocker, a literal aromatic expIosion in the grinder, and wet aromatics to match. Like all Harar coffees the cups can be inconsistent, and I would grade the preparation and defect count in this coffee as more imperfect than others. But who cares – when you smell this intoxicating blueberry aroma, the fact the roast is a bit uneven will matter not a bit! I will accept some inconsistency because all the cups are so intense and so good! The cup has a dark brown sugar sweetness too, which turns to a rustic milk chocolate with spicey hints. Body is above average, quite creamy for a Harar. But above all things is that highly desireable blueberry aromatic, which is so intense at City+ roast. If you like Harars roasted to FC+ or Vienna, you will see fruited notes turn to anise, black licorice, pungent spice. That’s not bad either.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4.4
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.0
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.8
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 3.6
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.8
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 2 Intensity/Prime Attribute: High / Fruity flavors from natural-dried, to winey to fermenty, rustic flavors of earth and leather.  
add 50 50 Roast: Harar is most fruity in a lighter City + roast (completely through 1st crack, before 2nd crack), and turns deeply pungent in French roasts. Between the two, a Vienna roast can possess the best of both. I prefer City+ with this lot. Harar will roast unevenly! This is not a bad thing, but if there are extremely pale beans in the roast you might want to cull them (at the risk of removing some of the extreme (earthy-husky) flavors in the cup.
Score (Max. 100) 90.2 Compare to: Blueberry bombshell.
Ethiopian FTO Harar – Oromia Coop (FTO = Fair Trade, Organic)
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 4 Region: Hararghe Mark: FTO (Fair Trade and Organic Certified) ,Oromia Co-op
Processing: Dry-processed Crop: August 2005 arrival Appearance: 1 d/300gr, 16-18 Screen Varietal: Heirloom Harar Moka seedstock
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 4.8 Notes: This lot of Harar Organic was pleasant late-crop arrival: we often find the best Harars come from MAO Horse (although we must cup many lots of Harar Horse to find the real gems). But it seems that Oromia has come up with a good later crop lot as the season ebbs (August arrivals are the last Harar shipments until March or so of the next year). I have never had a great sample from a late crop Horse lot. So we opt to run out of later crop Harar Horse and look for a really nice, lively, fruited FTO lot like this. Nevertheless, I always cup the other Harar sources including Bagersh and this, the Oromia cooperative. We bought Organic Dry-Process Sidamo and a lot of Wet-Process Organic Yirgacheffe from them last year but like all Ethiopian coffees there is a lot of variation lot-to-lot (and unfortunately sometimes there is variation within a particular lot number). Oromia is a huge cooperative spread throughout the upland country with something like 27,000 members farmer-members. So at different times of the season, even from within the same region and from the same cooperative mills, they are shipping lots with very different cup qualities. Well, that’s why we cup, and what makes the cupper’s job so critical; you can’t buy a coffee based on the name on the bag! I had a table of Harar coffees from all sources, not knowing which was which, and this lot screamed out at me with incredible berry and fruit aromatics. I had noticed already that this one sample had a strong fragrance of berry and apricot when I ground the sample. This has one of the best dry fragrances of a Harar that I have had the pleasure of smelling. It follows through into the wet aromatics where I find less blueberry and more apricot and a little mango. As with all dry-processed coffees, there is a variable nature to the cup results, and some cups have less of this fruit, and more of a spice and chocolate character – both cup results are excellent. Now I must admit, this coffee smells so fine that the cup flavors are perhaps a notch below. But this is a typical experience with a really good Harar … and hey, the aroma is an incredibly important part of the total cup experience. Cupping the very good Harar horse lot next to this one is a tough call, especially because of the variations from batch to batch that are endemic to natural dry-process coffees and Harar in particular. But I pick this one over the Horse about 60% of the time. So take note, fans of the Horse – good Harars can come from other sources too.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4.5
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.6
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 9.5
Body – Movement (1-5) 3.2
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.5
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity/Medium body and strong “natural” Harar character – berry-apricot spice and chocolate
add 50 50 Roast: City+ and Full City have the most complete fruit character. It turns more to pungent spice when roasted darker. I think sometimes Harar can be unpleasant too light though, a baked flavor with soy sauce hints. If not that, the body seems thin in the really light roast giving it a more tea-like quality. For me, a real Full City stopped on the verge of 2nd is best.
Score (Max. 100) 89.1 Compare to: Dry-process Harar with spice, rustic chocolate and berry/ apricot fruit in flavor and aromatics. This Oromia outcups any late crop Harar Horse lots.
Ethiopian Wet-Processed Sidamo
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 4 Region: Sidamo Mark: M.A.O. 
Processing: Wet Process Crop: Late May 2005 arrival Appearance: 0 d/300gr, 16 Screen Varietal: Ethiopian Arabica, Shortberry and Longberry
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 4

Notes: Wet-processed Sidamo is a coffee we usually don’t stock: it is similar in the cup to Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, another wet-process coffee, and often cups out as a lesser cousin. The irony is this: Sidamo is a major coffee growing region in southern Ethiopia and Yirgacheffe is a small sub-region centered around a village of the same name. So in fact, Yirgacheffe coffees are Sidamos. How’s that for confusing? What I find when evaluating the wet-processsed Sidamo coffees is that every so often a unique lot comes along that, in a way, out-Yirgacheffes the Yirgacheffes. The fact is, wet-processed Sidamo is a pain, and simply confuses people used to the dry-processed Sidamo (totally different in the cup) and the Yirgs. It better be good if I am going to buy: What I am looking for is intense aromatics, a clean cup without taints, fruited and floral flavors, complexity, and good finish. This is it. This lot came in, I got the sample, called back to buy, and by the next morning the full lot (250 bags) was gone! That’s how it is with a good lot. Anyway, I probably over-roasted the first sample I prepared of this lot (it was Full City+, having gone a few snaps into 2nd crack). I like wet-processed Ethiopia coffees lighter. But it had great, sweet aromatics, good acidity, fruity and floral, with plum and raisin in the cup, black pepper in the finish, pungent spicey, and nice mouthfeel (more than Yirgacheffes). I was impressed, and thought I must of switched samples with a Yirg. I re-roasted to a more appropriate City+ (completly through first crack, no sign of 2nd crack) and the coffee just soared. The lively brightness in the cup held a perfect high note, while citrus accents came through in the fruited cup flavors. Oddly though, I found myself liking that Full City roast more, having this great complexity between sweet fruited notes, bright acidity and pungent spice, dark fruit, and roastiness.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.8
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 9.2
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 9.0
Body – Mouthfeel(1-5) 3
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 9
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Roast: Full City. Roast this too light and the cup is too sour, the roast taste is more like baked grain, rather than sweetly pungent. I found that, surprisingly, Full City-Full City+ resulted in great complexity -see the review notes.
Add 50 50

Compare to: Bright, bold, floral, fruity cup similar to Ethiopia Yirgacheffe.

This coffee is NOT like the Dry-Process Sidamo (or Harar)
Score (Max. 100) 88
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (MAO)
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 2 Region: Yirgacheffe Mark: M.A.O.
Lot
Processing: Wet-processed Crop: August 2005 Arrival Appearance: .1 d/300gr, 16-17 Screen Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopian Cultivar
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 4.0 Notes: Yirgacheffe will beat you with a flower. It is truly a seductive coffee! Yirgacheffe is a town in Sidamo region, a high plateau north of Harar …Yirg. should mean “highest quality, most fruity acidity” compared to washed Limmu and washed Sidamo –or else the name doesn’t mean anything at all! I cupped Yirgacheffes hard this season, with so many *blah* samples arriving. Many were less impressive than even the 2 year old samples that are getting a bit “baggy” by now, even lots from the exact same exporter as this one, which underscores the importance to cup each and every distinct lot. All-in-all, there are great Ethiopian coffees out there this year, but you have to do a lot of cupping of individual lots to find them, and it’s a lot of work. And all of this years Yirgacheffes have a flavor profile shift: they are not as acidic and citrusy as previous years. But the flavors can be intriguing, and this particular lot leaped out in the cupping because of it’s truly unique character. The dry fragrance from the grounds is sweet and caramelly; the aroma from the brewed cup has great sharp peppery notes when taken a bit darker in the roast, a few snaps into 2nd crack. At that roast the flavors in the cup are a dark raisiny sweetness, behind pungent black pepper … but I really prefer the Yirgacheffe at it’s peak roast, which is between City to Full City, and not into 2nd crack at all. Even at the verge of 2nd crack the cup has remarkable high notes, and a dry zest in the finish, with hints of plum. With a City to City+ roast the cup is more citrusy, especially as it cools, with complex with tangy bittersweets. The floral aromas, sweet jasmine and honeysuckle, are so intense when brewing this coffee that you can smell it a mile away.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4.6
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 9.2
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 9.4
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 2.9
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 9.0
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 1.0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium / bright and lively, intense aromas
add 50 50.0 Roast: See notes above – flavors shift a lot before 1st crack versus after 2nd crack. If roasted dark this coffee becomes sharply pungent but since it has very light body it becomes very thin, and all the flowery and fruity notes are gone. I HIGHLY recommend stopping the roast on this before you hear too much 2nd crack – it really excels as a City-Full City roasted coffee.
Score (Max. 100) 90.1 Compare to: Remember, Washed Ethiopians have a much different cup character than Dry-Processed Ethiopians… this is a high-toned coffee, clean coffee, more like wet-processed Central Americans and certain Kenyas.
Ethiopian Harar Horse
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 4 Region: Hararghe Mark: M.A.O Horse
Processing: Dry Processed Crop: July 2005 Arrival Appearance: .5 d/300gr, 16- 17 Screen Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopian Arabica
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.8 Notes: Harar is intense. A really good Harar is a coffee that is fruity (blueberry to apricot) and with flowery enzymatic aromas, jasmine tea, maple woodiness, exotic hide or fresh leather, mulling spice… in other words, good Harar is like the fragrance of an open-air arabic market! Harars have pungent rustic chocolate roast flavors and a range of winey to fermented fruitiness. But this is a highly variable coffee, not just year-to-year, but lot-to-lot and sometimes even bag-to-bag! Some years might contains the covented blueberry character and another year it can be completely absent from all lots. Some years are cleaner and more tea-like and others are heavier, more wild and earthy. Harars are wild, natural coffees; two euphemisms for natural dry-processed. The reason MAO is included here in the title is that this importer in Dire Dawa (Mohamed Abdullahi Ogsadey –see his certificate found in each bag) is a really good source for Ethiopian coffees, often having the 1 or 2 really exceptional lots. But exporter’s mark is still not enough, you have to choose from lot to lot. I love good Harar and cup many lots of Harar Horse from 2 sources, and from 3 other exporters. Early lots this year (2005 – they started arriving early this season in February) really lacked the exotic fruit notes I expect in a Harar and I was worried the whole crop would be a bit off. I remember 4 years ago when all the Harars were just dirty tasting and had none of the intoxicating fruitiness in them. This is second lot we selected this year of the Harar Horse, one that sold out quickly when it arrived, and is a nice mid-to late-crop arrival from Harar. This has the wild fruited notes that I really like in Harar, from apricot and mango to hints of blueberry. The fruit is not consistent though; this is the variable character for a hand-processed natural coffee like Harar, but hey, I will accept some inconsistency because all the cups are so intense and so good! Other cups are huskier, more darky fruited. The dry fragrance of this coffee is excellent. It is so intense it almost makes everything else disappointing (it’s not, but when you grind this you will know what I mean.) Although this Harar lacks body if you drink it too soon after roasting (12-24 hours for example) it is hard to resist, and this is where the aromas are so powerful. The cup has a dark brown sugar sweetness too which turns to rustic dried fig tones, but the herbal-floral and blueberry highlights steal the show with this cup.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.4
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.8
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 3.5
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.8
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: High / Fruity flavors from natural-dried, to winey to fermenty, rustic flavors of earth and leather.
add 50 50 Roast: Harar is most fruity in a lighter City roast (completely through 1st crack, before 2nd crack), and turns deeply pungent in French roasts. Between the two, a Vienna roast can possess the best of both. I prefer Full City. Harar will roast unevenly! This is not a bad thing, but if there are extremely pale beans in the roast you might want to cull them (at the risk of removing some of the extreme (earthy-husky) flavors in the cup.
Score (Max. 100) 87.3 Compare to: Harar is an extreme coffee, aggressively flavored and with some natural earthy flavors that some people adore and others despise.
Ethiopian Org/FT DP Sidamo (too many acronyms! In longhand this is Ethiopia Organic and Fair Trade Certified Dry-Process Sidamo.)
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 5 Region: Sidamo Mark: Oromia Co-op, Certified Organic, FT
Processing: Dry-processed Crop: May 2005 arrival Appearance: 3 d/300gr,
17-18 Screen		 Varietal: Heirloom Moka Longberry seedstock
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.5 Notes: This dry-processed coffee from the Sidamo region has a husky character, more of the typical flavors that are inherent to natural dry-processed coffees: earthy, a little hidey, pungent, fruity, and with a very long aftertaste. Only in the past few years have Organic and Fair Trade coffees come from Ethiopia, and all are from a single huge cooperative called the Oromia co-op. They represent many small farms in many regions, and while the regions are certainly kept distinct (Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, Etc) the individual farms are too small to sell each coffee as discrete lots. So some of these pooled co-op lots can be pretty good, and a few are excellent. It takes cupping to sort through all the offerings, and this year I found 2 lots that were really nice, one dry-processed coffee from Sidamo and one wet-processed coffee from Yirgacheffe (although both are totally different in the cup). My warning about this Sidamo, some cups are a little too funky for me, earthy, hidey and a touch musty. Others cups are pleasurably potent, with that touch of wildness but not too much. It is not at all unexpected to have variation batch to batch, bag to bag, and cup to cup with a natural dry-processed coffee like this. For me, it is not a drawback – I like to taste the differences between the batches I roast! All cups are heavily fruited, like dried unsulphered natural apricot. There’s everything else in here too; exotic spice (cardamom allspice). It’s intense stuff… As far as variable cups goes, this is true with all dry-processed coffees, and always true with the Ethiopian dry-processed. It’s just part of the sun-dried coffee process where whole cherry is patio-dried, then the whole husk and parchment is removed in one step, and all defective coffee seeds are removed by visual sorting. That means a few decent-looking seeds will make it through the process that are indeed a bit over-ripe or under-ripe. Cull out any really, really light-colored seeds after roasting. I had to score this coffee low for flavor and aftertaste and then add points back in a cupper’s correction … this because some cuppers will hate this (ones who like clean, polite coffees) and me, I love it for its bold earthiness and heavyweight character. There were a lot of disappointing Ghimbi and Sidamo dry-processed lots I cupped this year, and this particular “chop” was the exception!
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.3
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.1
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.6
Body – Mouthfeel  (1-5) 3.5
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.3
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity/Heavy body and strong “natural” Sumatra character – wet earth, dark fruit.
add 50 50 Roast: Full City + roast is best: I like a more developed roast taste which aids some bittersweetness to the cup and compliments the fruit notes
Score (Max. 100) 85.5 Compare to: Classic Dry-process coffees of Ethiopia and Yemen. Please note: This coffee does have a high defect count. It is not a “poster child” of good dry processed preparation. Nonetheless, the cup can be very good: I recommend removing the extremely light beans after roasting, before brewing. I am not talking about ones just a little lighter than the norm. It is expected for roasted color variation in this coffee! I am talking about the very, very light tan ones, and there might be 4-8 of them in a batch (note the defect count for this coffee). These are underripe cherries, “quakers” as they are called in the trade (why?). You can also do a neat experiment and grind these up separately and brew a cup from them – interesting!
Ethiopian Organic / Fair Trade Yirgacheffe
Country: Ethiopia Grade: 2 Region: Yirgacheffe (in Sidamo) Mark: Oromia Co-op, Fair Trade, Organic
Processing: Wet-processed Crop: March 2005 Arrival Appearance: 0 d/300gr, 16-17 Screen Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopian Cultivar
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 4.0 Notes: Only in the past few years have Organic and Fair Trade coffees come from Ethiopia, and all are from a single huge cooperative called the Oromia co-op. They represent many small farms in many regions, and while the regions are certainly kept distinct (Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, Etc) the individual farms are too small to sell each coffee as discrete lots. So some of these pooled co-op lots can be pretty good, and a few are excellent. It takes cupping to sort through all the offerings, and this year I found 2 lots that were really nice last year, one dry-processed coffee from Sidamo and one wet-processed coffee from Yirgacheffe (although both are totally different in the cup). And this year I found this Yirgacheffe from Oromia that is really outstanding. This Yirgacheffe is bright, slightly winey, heavily fruited with a floral and flame grape flavor finishing in soft clove spice. Of course, I bought this lot because of the outstanding cup quality, but it’s pretty cool to know that Ethiopian farmers are assured by contract fair trade wages for this. This cup has that honey-lemon zest to it, not outrageously bright or acidic, it’s more the flavor of a honey-sweetened lemonade.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 4.0
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 9.2
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 9.0
Body-Mouthfeel (1-5) 2.8
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 9.0
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0.0 Roast: Keep this out of 2nd crack as much as you can – I think Yirgs get weird if roasted into 2nd crack too much, although others like that. It’s delicate notes are at their prime just before the coffee has any indication of 2nd crack.
add 50 50.0 Compare to: Remember, Washed Ethiopians have a much different cup character than Dry-Processed Ethiopians… this is a high-toned coffee, clean coffee, more like wet-processed Central Americans and certain Kenyas.
Score (Max. 100) 88.0
French Chicory

See the Chicory Page

(Indonesia) Flores
Indonesia Flores -Bajawa Highlands
Country: Indonesia Grade: Estate Island: Flores, Bajawa region Mark: None
Processing: Wet-Processed Crop: Late January 2006 Arrival Appearance: 1.6 d/300gr, 18 screen Varietal: Sumatra Typica
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3 Notes: Flores is a small island (360 km from tip to tip) in the Indonesian archipelago around 200 nautical miles East of Bali. Flores was known as Pulau Nipa (Snake Island) before the Portuguese arrived and they renamed it Flores (Flower Island). A very long thin Mountainous land with incredibly diverse terrain, and numerous active and inactive volcanic peaks. The Bajawa Highlands are one of the most traditional areas of Flores. Bajawa is a small town nestled in the hills and is the centre for the Ngada people of this high, fertile plateau. The coffee is grown between 1150 and 1400 meters, which is actually quite respectable altitude for Indonesian coffee farming. This is not the first time I have cupped coffee from Flores, but it is the first time I found it so (appropriately) floral, clean in the cup, and pleasantly akin to a good Timor or Papua New Guinea wet-processed coffee. It’s not easy to get smallholder farms in remote areas to process coffee carefully; the results from these hinterland growing regions usually reflect this. But here we can really taste the character of the area without defect. The dry fragrance is mildly floral and has a foresty note to it, suggesting it’s Indonesian origin. There are pleasant fresh woody notes wet aroma, and that comes through in the cup, but more like a good East Timor than like a funky, earthy Sumatra. The body seemed light after 24 hours rest but was much heavier after an additional 24. Both in the body and aftertaste, this coffee has a syrupy sweetness. It is not overly complex, which is why Timor and Java come to mind … but much more balanced than the later with a good range from bass to treble in the cup. I am warming up the espresso machine to try shots on an FC+ roast, which I think are going to be outstanding unblended with other coffees …
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.5
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) 8.4
Flavor – Depth (1-10) 8.4
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) 3.8
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) 8.6
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Balance, body  
add 50 50 Roast: My review notes are based on a City+ and Full City roast, and yes, the FC+ single-origin espresso worked out great; very floral and aromatic!
Score (Max. 100) 85.7 Compare to: A cross between other wet-processed Indonesian, with hints of Timor, Java and PNG.

 

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