The colonial town of Antigua Guatemala, center of the Antigua coffee growing region, with the Arch of Santa Catalina and Agua volcano.

There was a lot of soulful, old-fashioned coffee pleasure to be had among the 38 single-origin Guatemala coffees we tested for this month’s report, along with a few subtle sensory shocks and surprises. Given the waves of experimentation with processing methods pursued by Central American coffee producers over the last couple of years, I thought we might need to finesse our way through trade-offs between flamboyant fruit-forward anaerobic ferment experiments and classic washed coffee tradition. But only one explicit anaerobic-fermented sample showed up, and that one was rather subdued and unexceptional.

Does that mean the highest-rated among the remaining 37 Guatemalas we tested were predictable or boring? Not at all. Partly because the other great determinant of originality in coffee character, tree variety, is very much in play here. Among the ten top-rated, 91+ Guatemalas we tested, five were produced from trees of the celebrated Geisha variety, the cultivar that transformed specialty coffee history when its grandly structured, floral and cocoa-toned cup emerged in the Best of Panama green coffee competition in 2004. True, the five Geishas represented in this month’s cupping are not as intense and startlingly distinctive as were those early Panama Geishas. Nevertheless, these Guatemala Geishas were more than distinctive enough to infuse the classic balance of washed-process coffees with floral complexity and sweet, juicy brightness. This fusion is particularly clear in two top-rated coffees from familiar Taiwan roasters, the GK Coffee Guatemala El Injerto Malawi Geisha Washed (95) and the Kakalove Guatemala Washed Finca La Hermosa Gesha Peaberry (94). Both deliver classic pleasure with a distinct Geisha lift. (The El Injerto Malawi Geisha, by the way, is produced from seed of a strain of the Geisha variety that has long been grown in the East African country of Malawi, independent from the Panama-grown variety that has created such a stir elsewhere in the coffee world.)

El Injerto is a distinguished Huehuetenango-region farm that produced two of the coffees reviewed this month. Courtesy of Euphora Coffee.

Two Natural-Process Geishas

The impact of Geisha as a cup-transforming tree variety was bolstered almost from the beginning by processing experiments aimed at intensifying its already striking character. Two of the Geishas we review this month were processed by the natural method, the ancient, now updated practice of drying coffee in the whole fruit.

These two samples clearly reveal the contrasting directions taken by the contemporary natural-process cup. The Bonlife Guatemala Finca La Linea Gesha (93) embodies the now familiar style of natural: sweet, lushly fruit-toned, chocolate-inclined, a style often patronized by purists as “fruit bomb.” What this term misses is the fact that there are successful fruit bombs and less successful fruit bombs, and this month’s Bonlife Finca La Linea, in our view, can be counted as a successful one. The fruit tones are ripe though not overripe, and the structure is plush and juicy but free of shadow taint.

Moving in the opposite direction, the Euphora Coffee El Injerto Legendary Geisha (94) is hardly recognizable as a natural: it could be a particularly lush washed-process coffee. Rather than plushly sweet, it is richly sweet-tart, with a deep, ringing acidity.

Lime and Herb

Finally, the Geisha character displays an unusual twisty, vaguely margarita-like edge in the washed-process Kafe Coffee Roastery Guatemala Antigua Bella Carmona Geisha (92). Here the Geisha flowers are freesia-like and herby, the citrus an unusual lime.

Now to Guatemala Coffees Not Named Geisha (or Gesha)

Specialty coffee traditionalists who associate the Guatemala cup with a deep, vibrantly low-toned character and chocolate- and nut-toned nuance will also find pleasure and support in the results of this cupping. The Handlebar Guatemala Bella Carmona (93) in particular forgoes the Geisha edge for more traditional tree varieties, netting an impressive version of a familiar style Guatemala cup at an affordable price. Produced from trees of the Bourbon and Caturra varieties, it is a spot-on classic Guatemala of the old school: vibrant but low-toned, chocolaty, with orange and floral complication.

Luis Pedro Zelaya of Finca Bella Carmona in Antigua, Guatemala. Courtesy of Handlebar Coffee.

For some years now the coffee producers and technicians of the world have been on the lookout for another under-the-radar variety bombshell like the Geisha, with some success (in Colombia Sidra and Chiroso; worldwide, plantings of Kenya’s SL-28), though based on our experience at Coffee Review none of these recently popularized varieties exhibit near the startlingly original character of the original Panama Geisha. Another direction in the new variety search has been exploration of the sensory potential of varieties with unusual bean size and shape. Two such coffees appeared and showed fairly well in this month’s cupping. The Marago-Pache (a large-beaned hybrid of the huge-beaned Maragogype and the Typica-related Pache) from Torque Coffees scored 91 for its delicate, subtly structured cup. A more radically different new variety is the Willoughby’s Guatemala El Socorro Laurina (91). Laurina is different in at least three ways: different bean shape (small and pointy), different tree shape (cone-shaped, resembling a cross between a coffee tree and a Christmas tree), and different in caffeine content: Laurina beans deliver about half as much caffeine as typical Arabica beans. Laurina is a mutant of Bourbon first found growing on Reunion Island (previously Isle of Bourbon), leading to its alternative name, Bourbon Pointu. In the cup we found it quietly distinctive, with savory-edged chocolate and deeply stated floral notes we associated with rose.

Hybrid Varieties, Subtle Processing, Fine Cup

For me perhaps the most original and noteworthy coffee in the cupping did not come from Geisha or any of the other rediscovered and fashionable varieties, but instead from disease-resistant hybrids that incorporate Robusta in their genetics. The Coffea Guatemala Chich’upao (93) was produced from trees of the Costa Rica 90, Parainema and Sarchimor varieties, all members of the taste-suspect Catimor family of cultivars. I can only assume that the refined processing method deployed by the producers, Café de Chichupac, a cooperative of small-holding producers in Rabinal, Guatemala, carried the day and the cup. The processing method involved sealing the whole coffee fruit in nylon bags for two days before it was depulped and dried with skin and pulp removed but fruit flesh intact, this last step making it technically a variation on red-honey processing.

Regardless of processing name, these villagers produced a splendid coffee in a classic Central America mode: gentle, deeply complex, and quite pure. It was achieved with the support and advice of Coffea Guatemala, a small roaster and café in the famous colonial town of Antigua, Guatemala.

Coffee and History

The other reason the Coffea Chich’upao is remarkable for me is its relationship to the social history of Guatemala, a country with a long and painful history of strife between an elite of mainly European heritage and a large population of indigenous people, mostly of Mayan ethnicity (an estimated 51 percent of the total Guatemalan population). Coffee production is, of course, one avenue through which development agencies and other progressive organizations (including businesses like Coffea Guatemala) attempt to give support and voice to indigenous villagers and small-holding producers.

Sebastian Chen of Café De Chichupac cooperative, producer of the Coffea Guatemala Chich’upao. Courtesy of Coffea Guatemala.

The municipality in which the Chich’upaq coffee was produced, Rabinal, carries particular importance in the history of indigenous people in Guatemala. Rabinal Achí is a Maya theatrical play written in the Kʼicheʼ language and performed annually in Rabinal. It is one of the few performance pieces surviving from before Spanish colonization. Rabinal, unfortunately, is also the site of the infamous murders from 1980 to around 1985 of at least 5,000 Maya villagers by the right-wing military government of Efrain Rios Montt during the 40-year-long Guatemalan Civil War.

Another attractive option for the socially conscious coffee buyer is the Wonderstate Organic Guatemala Tojquia (92), produced by farmer Porfirio Velasquez on his small farm of seven acres from standard tree varieties and fastidiously processed by the traditional washed method. Temperate fruits (cherry, pear) in particular weave through its classic cocoa-toned balance. This is the only certified organic-grown coffee among the ten reviewed this month, and Wonderstate has a long and distinguished record of support for environmental and social causes and issues.

Porfirio Velasquez, producer of Wonderstate Coffee’s Guatemala Tojquia, on his seven-acre Huehuetenango farm. Courtesy of Nick Brehany

Famous Farms, Renowned Growing Regions

Other coffees reviewed this month were produced by larger farms, most either in the valley surrounding the town of Antigua Guatemala or in the mountains of Huehuetenango Department near the border with Chiapas, Mexico. Finca Injerto, a third-generation farm in Huehuetenango, is among the most admired Central American coffee estates and the source of two of the three top-rated reviewed coffees: the GK Coffee Malawi Geisha Washed (95) and the svelte natural-processed Euphora Legendary Gesha (94). Finca Vista Hermosa, a third-generation Huehuetenango farm owned by the Edwin Martinez family, produced the unusual Marago-Pache variety from Torque Coffee (91).

Finca El Socorro, source of Willoughby’s very rare, low-caffeine Laurina variety (91), boasts a winning record in Cup of Excellence green coffee competitions as well as a line of coffees from rare tree varieties like the Laurina. Finca Bella Carmona is a green coffee brand associated with a group of Antigua farms that appears here twice, once with the 93-rated Handlebar Guatemala and again with the Kafe Coffee Roastery Bella Carmona Geisha (92). Finally, the Gesha Peaberry from Kakalove Cafe (94) was produced by the relatively new, medium-sized farm Finca La Hermosa in the Acatenango region near the famous volcano of the same name.

Timing and Turnout

The turnout of coffees this month was less robust than usual, possibly because our publication schedule forced us to run the report a bit too early and some of the finest, high-altitude Guatemalas may have not yet made it to the roasters. The timing also may have contributed to a modest fall-off in overall ratings, since it is possible that some of the lower-rated submissions not reviewed here were from last year’s crop.

Nevertheless, this month’s ten 91-plus coffees are varied and powerful expressions of the Guatemala coffee genius, reflecting both its great classic tradition as well as subtle enhancements of new tree varieties and processing innovations.

Managing Editor Kim Westerman and Associate Editor Jason Sarley contributed to this report.

The post Guatemala Coffees 2024: Classic with a Geisha Boost appeared first on Coffee Review.

What is a single-origin espresso? Very generally defined, it’s an espresso produced from a single crop of coffee grown and processed in a single country, region, cooperative or farm. In other words, it is not a blend of coffees grown in different places or at different times.

Single-origin (S.O.) espressos allow an espresso drinker to explore the wider world of coffee in the same mindful, informed way as coffee drinkers who taste their coffees brewed as drip or French press. With single-origin espressos, the curious espresso drinker can explore the sensory impacts of variables like tree variety, processing method, growing elevation and, to some degree, roasting strategy — explorations that are difficult to impossible to pursue with blends. Plus, single-origins have the capacity to surprise us, and make the simple act of tasting an espresso shot or cappuccino a memorable mini-revelation that tasting a routine blend, even a very good routine blend, can’t offer us.

Such coffee explorations would seem to be particularly supported by this month’s tasting, as all of the 13 top-rated coffees we report on are identified quite specifically: by specific farm or co-op, by variety of tree that produced them, and often by growing elevation. And we were able to tell something about the roasting by taking Agtron color readings of the beans.

Tasting Colleagues

I was joined in this blind tasting of single-origin espressos by John DiRuocco, vice president of coffee at Mr. Espresso, a long-established (founded in 1978) coffee roaster in Oakland, California. The Mr. Espresso motto, quite justified by its practice, is “Italian inspiration, contemporary taste.”

Kenneth Davids and John DiRuocco tasting espresso coffees at Mr. Espresso roastery in Oakland. Courtesy Jason Sarley.

We conducted the tasting over several days at the lab in the Mr. Espresso roastery, with Brandon Talley, assistant director of coffee quality at Mr. Espresso, pulling the shots on a Faema E71E, and Coffee Review’s Jason Sarley in a supervising support role. As usual, we generated the shots using 18 grams of ground coffee to produce 36 grams of finished espresso, a relatively standard ratio in North American practice. For the “with milk” assessment, the shot was combined with three parts whole milk, heated but not frothed on the steam wand. As always at Coffee Review, the tasting was conducted blind, with Jason delivering the coffees identified only by numbers to John and me.

Importance of Processing Method

When the tasting was finished and the results were tabulated, it turned out that one variable in particular moved to the front of the sensory line: processing method. (Processing method, readers will recall, describes the sequence of procedures that turn the moist seeds of fresh coffee fruit into dry, stable, roaster-ready green coffee beans.) The dramatic impact of processing methods involving anaerobic (limited oxygen) fermentation and its growing number of variations and applications tended to upstage the impact of other variables that create differences among green coffees, like tree variety, growing elevation and various more conventional processing methods.

Old Soul Coffee’s Natural Process “Unicorn Lot” drying at Anny Ruth Pimentel’s Finca Loma La Gloria in El Salvador. Courtesy of Jason Griest.

Thirteen of the coffees we tested achieved ratings of 94 or 95, all of which we review here. Among those top-rated 13 samples, nine, or almost 70 percent, were processed using methods that prominently incorporated anaerobic fermentation. Among the remaining four top-rated samples, two were processed by the conventional wet or washed method (all soft fruit residue was removed from the beans before they were dried), one by the honey or pulped natural method (skins were removed, but the fruit flesh or mucilage remained on the beans during drying), and one by the natural method (the beans were dried inside the entire fruit).

A stage in the multi-staged fermentation procedure for Royal Flamingo Coffee’s Colombia Red Fruits at Edwin Noreña’s Campo Hermosa in Colombia. Courtesy of Royal Flamingo Coffee.

The impact of the anaerobic ferment could be felt in the often striking sweetness and surprising aromatic complexity among all of the nine anaerobic-process samples. However, the only sample that displayed explicit anaerobic character in its candyish sweetness and perfume-like flowers was the Royal Flamingo Colombia Red Fruits Campo Hermosa Edwin Noreña (94). John very much admired this coffee at 95 and felt it was coherent and complete in its originality, with its intense aromatics supported by a sound structure. For me, however, there was a bit too much strawberry gummy and not quite enough coffee, though I managed a 92. But I suspect many readers will go with John’s take on this one. Give this striking coffee a try.

John and I switched sides with the quietly melodic, elegant Speckled Ax Ethiopia Dame Dabaye (John 92, Ken 95, net 94), which I found pure, poised and flawless. John found it a pleasing but straightforward washed Ethiopia espresso. But, again, try it; you may not be blown away, but I strongly doubt you will throw any of it away either.

Tree Variety

The celebrated Geisha/Gesha variety of Arabica, with its elongated beans, fine structure, and intensely floral, cocoa and stone-fruit character, has been one of the main vehicles that ambitious coffee growers have relied on over the past couple of decades in their often successful attempts to differentiate their green coffees and attract recognition and higher prices for them. Authentic Geishas, particularly those grown from seed of the original Panama strain (Geisha T2722), continue to impress with their grand but balanced structure and intense floral, fruit and cocoa aromatics.

Young coffee trees at Edwin Noreña’s Campo Hermosa in Colombia.

But Geishas may no longer seem as new and different as they once did. So applying anaerobic processing to a coffee from a respectable but otherwise unremarkable tree variety is an alternative way to surprise the buyer with aromatic fireworks and seductive sweetness. And at lower prices than might be expected for coffee from Geisha trees, with their often stingy yields and fussy needs. Of course, producers can double down and apply anaerobic processing to their Geishas, as is the case with the Big Shoulders Coffee’s anaerobic natural Marcela Gesha Espressso (95), Euphora Coffee’s anaerobic washed Colombia Buenavista Ataraxia Geisha (94), and AOI Coffee’s Ethiopia Growers Reserve Gesha Village Gaylee Special Fermentation (94), all of which pursue a distinctive cup by means of both distinctive tree variety and anaerobic processing.

Origin and Single-Origin Espressos

Seven of this month’s 13 highest-rated samples were produced in Colombia, all in southern or south-central Colombia. Of the remaining six, three were produced in Ethiopia, one in Rwanda, one in El Salvador, and one in Hawaii.

Why the preponderance of Colombias, obviously a popular origin, but until recently not the go-to origin for coffees intended for espresso? (Traditionally, that would be Brazil.) Mainly because a cluster of farms in southern Colombia appear to have mastered the use of complex methods of anaerobic fermentation, which, performed skillfully, can transform a high-grown, potentially acidy coffee into a lower-toned, richly complex, espresso-friendly coffee.

MK Coffee’s Rwanda Rulindo Red Bourbon drying in the “honey (fruit flesh) at Juru Coffee in Rwanda. Courtesy of Linking Coffee and Juru Coffee.

True, some of the other successful coffees in this month’s tasting used simpler, more direct applications of anaerobic methods than the Colombia farms. But, all in all, only two out of this month’s top-rated 13 samples were processed using legacy methods traditionally associated with the origins that produced them: The Wonderstate Colombia Sierra Morena Pink Bourbon (95) is a traditional washed-process Colombia, and the Speckled Ax Ethiopia Dame Dabaye (94) a traditional washed Ethiopia. Local tree variety may contribute to the success of MK Coffee’s Juru Rwanda Rulindo Red Bourbon Honey (94), though the honey processing method is atypical for a Rwanda.

Stay tuned, but it appears that the expectation that we can make consistent associations between coffee origin and coffee cup character continues to erode as ambitious farmers all over the world tinker with tree variety (e.g., Geisha) and processing method.

Roast Color and Espresso

Traditionally, Italian practice is to roast for espresso to around what Americans might call a darkish medium roast. However, when a taste for espresso drinks and European-style cafés first developed in the U.S. in the 1980s, roasters went really dark for espresso brewing. They aggressively dark-roasted high-grown Central America or Colombia coffees, producing intense, bitter coffees that required the softening, buffering impact of hot frothed milk to render them drinkable. Later, many American specialty roasters migrated toward something more like the original Italian tradition: moderately dark- to medium-dark.

Today, of course, on the leading edge of the U.S. specialty coffee scene, taste in roast style has completely flipped, regardless of brewing method. Rather than everything dark, as was the case 20 years ago, today virtually everything is light. Sometimes very light, regardless of intended brewing method.

Of the seven U.S. coffees reviewed this month, six are light-roasted. Only one, the Speckled Ax Ethiopia, was roasted modestly darker, to a little past second crack, classifying it as a moderately dark roast. The six coffees from Taiwan roasters were a bit darker roasted than the U.S. samples, tending toward medium or medium-dark, though none could be called outright dark roasted.

Omni Roasts and Acidity

Most of this month’s coffees probably qualify as what some in the coffee world call omni roasts—roasts that the roaster feels will do well when subjected to almost any brewing method.

This practice—one roast for all brewing methods—has a practical advantage for coffee sellers, of course. Fewer products, a more compact inventory, and perhaps simpler communication. The increased technical sophistication available today in managing roast, facilitated by computer control and monitoring, may help roasters apply roasting practices that tend to round sharpness and soften and integrate acidity in lighter roasts, making them more espresso-friendly.

The potentially bright, aggressive acidity characteristic of high-grown, light-roasted coffees has always presented a problem for espresso brewing. Some years ago, when the practice of pulling espresso from such bright, lighter-roasted coffees took off, I recall tasting some rather imbalanced espressos. Although we still run into an occasional rather sharply acidy single-origin espresso at Coffee Review, our tasting for this month suggests that roasters are becoming increasingly skillful at sourcing and light-roasting single-origins for all-purpose brewing, and, by implication, for espresso.

Acid-Reducing Anaerobics

The fact that there were so many anaerobic-fermented coffees among the espressos we tasted this month may have helped the acidity-reducing cause. Anaerobic processing tends to reduce or soften acidity, often replacing it with a backgrounded lactic tang, while encouraging a sweetness that helps balance any bitter edge to the acidity.

Single-Origin Espressos in the Café

When we decided on this month’s topic, we were a little afraid that single-origin espressos had had their day and were on their way out of fashion.

Perhaps. However, we received a reassuringly large number of submissions for this topic.

Roasters who sent us top-rated coffees and with whom we subsequently corresponded were largely divided about the value of single-origin espressos in their cafés. Generally, Taiwan roasters were more positive than were North American roasters, and for good reason, given brewing espresso at home appears more popular in Taiwan than in the U.S. Mark Shi of Taiwan’s MK Coffee reports: “Since Taiwanese cafes banned on-site drinking during the Covid-19 pandemic and most customers were working from home, I found that many people who drank coffee every day bought automatic espresso machines at that time, so for the beans suitable for espresso (including blended beans and single-origin beans), the demand is trending higher and higher.”

Arthur Chen of Taiwan’s Balmy Day Coffee Office (Ethiopia Anaerobic Washed G1 Wild Rose S.O. Sidamo, 94), offers an extended recommendation for how roasting for espresso should be conducted (slowly), concluding that single-origin espressos “… should be like a taste bomb, allowing the flavor of the coffee to be concentrated and focused, so that the single-origin coffee flavor can bloom in the mouth like fireworks.”

American Single-Origin Skeptics

A generally more skeptical attitude among American roasters regarding single-origin espressos is voiced by Old Soul Coffee’s Jason Griest (El Salvador Finca Loma La Gloria Natural Process “Unicorn Lot”, 94). Jason writes, “Single origin espressos can be fun, but we find a ‘good’ one elusive to find and so, rarely have one on the bar at our shops.” Jason echoes the position of many North American roasters, who feel that an espresso coffee needs to be versatile above all: “Our main espresso blend called The Remedy is made up of three components, designed to complement each other in terms of body, acidity and sweet/bitter notes that can be enjoyed both as a straight shot and with milk.” Lee Paterson of Hawaii’s Hula Daddy (Kona Espresso Special Selection, 94) points out that “Since most of our sales are to North America, where drip coffee is king, espressos are a small part of our business.”

Anny Ruth Pimentel’s Finca Loma La Gloria in El Salvador. Courtesy of Jason Griest.

Tim Coonan of Big Shoulders Coffee (Marcela Gesha Espresso, 95) takes a more encouraging middle-ground position: “Our S.O. espresso program serves three purposes. These are coffees that are challenging for roasters and baristas alike. So it’s educational for us. We find these are appreciated by those regular customers who are looking for an opportunity to both learn more about coffee and also [are] willing to explore some boundaries in the process. These are customers who also enjoy their espresso solo, not with milk.”

American Single-Origin Enthusiasts

Taking a wholehearted pro-single-origin position are Bryan and Beth Brzozowski of Royal Flamingo Coffee (Colombia Red Fruits Campo Hermosa Edwin Noreña, 94), who are planning to extend their successful e-commerce and wholesale business to a brick-and-mortar café this year. They write, “Single-origin espresso is something we’ve become known for in our coffee community and has played a major role in our e-commerce and wholesale growth. When we open our café next month, we’ll be leaning hard on single-origin espresso. … For example, we’re planning to have a few options on the menu where customers can order a drip and a shot of single-origin espresso comes alongside (a pair we are calling the Barista’s Boilermaker).”

Wilson Alva of Finca Sierra Morena, producer of Wonderstate Coffee’s Colombia Sierra Morena Pink Bourbon. Courtesy of The Coffee Quest.

Summing up the pro-single-origin side is Caleb Nicholes of Wonderstate Coffee: “We believe that single-origin espressos have a distinct and important role in specialty coffee. In all of our café locations, we offer both a single-origin espresso, which is roasted lighter, as well as a deeper roasted blend. Having a lighter-roasted espresso option gives us the opportunity to introduce our customers to a very light-roasted espresso experience that is very much reflective of a coffee’s variety, micro-climate and processing style. While brighter, more fruit-driven and aromatic espressos can be jarring for some coffee consumers, it is an excellent way to expand perceptions around what espresso can be. We love to surprise our customers with something they have never tasted before, and single-origin espresso is one of the best ways we have found to do that.”

Single-Origin Espressos at Home

Of course, café owners need to please nearly everyone who comes in the door. Consumers only need to please themselves—or at most their families and guests. So perhaps the single-origin espresso game, with its potential for coffee exploration and sensory revelation (along with its risk for temporary disappointment) is best played by consumers at home. If so, we feel that the coffees we review this month offer an excellent and diverse starting point.

John DiRuocco Reflects on the Tasting

John writes: “Roasters from all over the world submitted their finest offerings from familiar to exotic. It was an exciting challenge to describe and evaluate these coffees. The vast assortment of processes and varieties translated to a thrill ride of aroma, acidity, and fruit. As a roaster based in Italian coffee tradition, our approach to espresso at Mr. Espresso is based on the idea of balance and roundness, something that can be enjoyed several times a day, every day. What set the best of the coffees we tasted apart for me were not only flavor profiles that contained explosive fruits, intricate floral flavors, and intense acidity, but those that were balanced by a pronounced sweetness and round body to create a memorable espresso experience.”

Thanks to the roasters who greatly enriched this report by sharing their ideas and experience regarding single-origin espresso coffees: Matt Bolinder, Speckled Ax Coffee; Bryan and Beth Brzozowski, Royal Flamingo Coffee; Chris Chao, AOI Coffee Roaster; Arthur Chen, Balmy Day Coffee Office; Tim Coonan, Big Shoulders Coffee; Jason Griest, Old Soul Coffee Co.; Albert Hsu, OLI Cafe; Miguel Meza, Paradise Coffee; Caleb Nicholes, Wonderstate Coffee; Lee Paterson, Hula Daddy Kona Coffee; Mark Shi, MK Coffee Roasters; May Wang, Euphora Coffee; Zhou Tzuchiang, Bargain Cafe.

The post Single-Origin Espressos: Anaerobics Crash the Party appeared first on Coffee Review.

Welcome sign at Finca El Divisi in Colombia’s Huila Department. Courtesy of Chromatic Coffee.

I’ll start with a familiar story. Around 2004, a Panama coffee farmer, Price Peterson, found a field of coffee trees growing on his property that was different in appearance from other trees. He entered the coffee from those trees as a separate lot in the 2004 Best of Panama green coffee competition, and that coffee, competing as the “Geisha” variety of Arabica, blew away that year’s competition, that year’s coffees from any other place in the world, and everyone who tasted it.

Coffee from this newly rediscovered variety tasted startlingly complex and different and continues to taste that way even when planted elsewhere, so long as the seedlings represent the authentic Geisha as rediscovered in Panama, and growing conditions are appropriate.

This is not the place to go into the confusion and debate that has developed over the past decade around Geisha, from debates about how to spell the name to Geishas that don’t taste like Geishas. What is important for this report is the fact that a previously unrecognized variety of Arabica coffee was found simply growing in a Panama coffee field, and that previously unrecognized variety went on to change the world of specialty coffee.

True, Geisha/Gesha was subsequently traced back through Costa Rica to Kenya and Tanzania to a specific region in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, the possibility remains that there could be another Geisha growing in someone else’s field of anonymous trees, another botanical and sensory gold mine waiting to be discovered.

Perhaps it is that possibility, the potential emergence of another game-changing variety of Arabica from anonymity, that has encouraged attention to a cluster of new coffee varieties that have popped up over the past three or four years on roaster websites and in our reviews. In particular, we have heard a lot about Pink Bourbon, Chiroso and Sidra, all coffee varieties that are new and relatively unfamiliar to most fine coffee enthusiasts, and all apparently first selected from fields in Colombia or neighboring Ecuador.

New Names and Claims

For this month’s report, we sample some of these relatively new varieties. Do they actually taste that different or superior to more familiar varieties like Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Castillo or Catuai, varieties that typically make up the coffee samples from Colombia and Central America we test at Coffee Review? How well do these newer varieties stand up when compared to samples from that sensory powerhouse Geisha? What, roughly, can consumers expect when they buy a coffee from trees of one of these relatively new varieties?

Working the covered drying beds at Finca El Diviso in Colombia. Courtesy of Chromatic Coffee.

We were particularly interested in tasting those varieties that apparently were selected informally and turned out to taste different or exciting enough for other farmers to plant them and help establish them as relatively stable varieties. All three have created some internet buzz. Again, they are Sidra (sometimes called Sidra Bourbon), Pink Bourbon (note it is pink Bourbon, not yellow or red), and Chiroso (sometimes called Chiroso Caturra). We were able to source 14 samples said to be produced from trees of these varieties.

Other Newcomers

We also tested a smattering of coffees from other varieties that are not typically grown in Ecuador, Colombia or Central America, but which were recently brought in and established on farms there. They include the Ethiopian Wush Wush variety (a popular choice with 10 samples), the Kenyan SL28, and the fascinating Java, a variety first established in Java in the early 19th century with seed brought directly from Ethiopia, then refined by geneticists in Cameroon before rerelease as a stable (and often outstanding) variety under the Java name in the 1980s. This month we review a fine Java grown in Colombia at Finca El Roble by Jairo Ivan Lopez and Corvus Coffee, rating it at 95 for its clean, intense sweetness and its cocoa and rich berry notes suggesting the similar flavor complex in some Geisha profiles.

Processing coffee cherries at Finca El Roble in Colombia’s Quindio Department. Courtesy of Corvus Coffee.

We also tested single samples from a half-dozen other varieties, including Centroamericano and Milenio, both deliberate crosses between a tough, disease-resistant hybrid (Sarchimor) and an Ethiopia variety admired for its distinctive cup character (Sudan Rume). The goal with such F-1 crosses, as they are called, is to produce a variety robust enough to stand up to the stress of climate change while delivering the sensory complexity of fine Ethiopia coffees. In other words, a win-win. Centroamericano and Milenio were part of the first wave of F1 hybrid varieties created by a consortium including French research institute CIRAD, a regional network of national coffee institutes in Central America (PROMECAFE), and the tropical agricultural research and higher education center CATIE. F1 hybrid varieties are still relatively new in coffee agriculture. Only a handful have become commercially available to farmers in the past 15 years, including the Milenio reviewed here, produced by the Las Lajas micro-mill in Costa Rica and reviewed at 92 as sourced and roasted by Seattle’s Fulcrum Coffee Roasters.

Processing Hijinks Make Evaluation Challenging

Of the three emerging varieties we particularly focus on, Pink Bourbon has attracted the most internet praise. Chiroso and Sidra also have received good press, but not as much of it.

Our sampling of roasted coffees produced by these three newly publicized varieties was relatively modest in number (a total of 15). And evaluating their potential in the cup was complicated by the fact that some of these samples were processed by experimental anaerobic processing methods deliberately designed to intensify their complexity and distinction.

Fermentation barrels at Finca El Diviso where many anaerobic coffees are processed. Courtesy of Chromatic Coffee.

So, it’s difficult to tell how much of the surprise and excitement displayed by some of these samples comes from the new, unfamiliar tree variety and how much from the application of ingenious new processing methods. However, I personally have concluded that the often pleasing complexity and juicy structure of the best of these samples are mainly associated with their innate character. In other words, in my opinion (mine alone), the processing wrinkles may have intensified complexity and intensity, but the best of these samples were intrinsically impressive.

The New Variety Scorecard

Of the varieties we tested and focused on, Sidra considerably surpassed the others in average ratings, including both the Ethiopian Wush Wush and the much-admired Pink Bourbon and Chiroso. Given the relative few samples of each variety, however, it could just be the luck of the Sidra. Remember that we cup our samples blind; we have no idea of the identity of a sample at the moment we cup it.

• Sidra, seven samples, average rating 93, high 95 low 91
• Chiroso, five samples, average rating 89, high 94 low 84
• Pink Bourbon, three samples, average rating 90, high 92 low 89
• (For general comparison, Wush Wush 10 samples, average rating 88, high 93 low 81)

Three of the Sidra samples in particular — the top-rated Chromatic Coffee Colombia Finca El Diviso, the Euphora Coffee Ecuador Sidra, and the Kakalove Colombia Las Flores Sidra, all rated 95 — were particularly impressive, and all quite different, though alike in their thrilling floral and fruit intricacy and complex, nuanced layering of foundational tastes. The Chromatic Finca El Diviso is jammier, deeper, more fruit- and chocolate-toned than the others. The Euphora Ecuador Sidra is also deep, but floral, with a particularly exciting bright acidity that shimmers at the heart of the profile. The Kakalove Las Flores Sidra is a bit quieter, more balanced and complete than the others, with a characteristic Geisha-style layering of flowers and cocoa.

Typica-Bourbon Hybrids? Nope

The most prevalent explanation for why these three varieties are surprising and exceptional in the cup runs along these lines: They are complex and exciting because they are spontaneous hybrids of Bourbon and Typica and they embody the best of both of these varieties. Some internet accounts particularly emphasize the “better because they’re both” argument.

The pride New World farmers must take in celebrating the special virtues of new varieties that seem to brilliantly fuse the character of the two fundamental pillars of Latin American coffee, Typica and Bourbon, is understandable.

However, if genetic evidence is to be believed (and what else might we believe?), we are looking at three more examples of “Ethiopian escapees.” In other words, three more versions of the Geisha story. According to Christophe Montagnon, leading tropical agriculture geneticist and head of coffee genetics research firm RD2 Vision, Sidra, Pink Bourbon and Chiroso all have no relationship whatsoever to either Bourbon or Typica. They are part of a “Core Ethiopia” genetic group, consisting of Ethiopian “landrace” varieties selected for good performance by farmers.

Which farmers, and where did they do that selecting? The trees are not telling, and so far, no one has been able to trace any of these three varieties back through history, as was possible with Geisha/Gesha. So, we have the unraveling of this mystery to look forward to. But wherever the selection happened, most likely farmers or their technical advisors did the selecting, so I say score one for the coffee grassroots.

Two More Varieties: Chiroso, SL28

We review one Chiroso from Taiwan roaster at 94, the GK Coffee Colombia El Roble Chiroso Washed, which impressed with its delicacy, the way its flowers edged toward herb, displaying an engagingly fresh, gardeny character. The highest rated coffee in this month’s report not grown from Ethiopian-related plant material is the 94-point Equator Coffee Guatemala El Injerto SL28, in which the pungent, resinous note characteristic of the great Kenya SL28 variety sweetens and rounds beautifully in a mango and lavender direction.

Coffees drying at Finca El Injerto in Guatemala’s Huehuetenango Department. Courtesy of Equator Coffee.

Thanks and a Deeper Dive on Coffee Variety

Special thanks to Miguel Meza of Paradise Roasters and Christophe Montagnon of RD2 Vision for their generous advice on this report.

Senior Editor Kim Westerman and Associate Editor Jason Sarley co-cupped all samples and contributed to review language and ratings.

For more on coffee variety, I recommend the following resources:

Chris Kornman, Daily Coffee News, “The Coffee Roaster’s Complete Guide to Coffee Varieties and Cultivars”. Lucid and thorough.

Christophe Montagnon, “Arabica Coffee Cultivars Wheel” and associated materials . Authoritative and scholarly.

World Coffee Research’s “Coffee Varieties Catalog”. Meticulous and easy to access.

Or those muscular readers not afraid of heavy books can consult the varieties chapter in my recently published volume 21^st Century Coffee: A Guide. 

The post New Coffee Varieties: Sidra, Chiroso, Pink Bourbon, Wush Wush appeared first on Coffee Review.

Merapi volcano in Central Java, Indonesia.

Java and Bali are familiar names in the atlas of legend and imagination: Java mainly because of an historical association with coffee so powerful that it lent coffee one of its nicknames, and Bali for reasons that have little to do with coffee, but with the famous beauty of the island and its people and culture. Today, both islands produce coffees of charm and interest, and this month we report on a small but impressive selection.

To say Java has a long history in coffee would be an understatement. After the colonial Dutch established Arabica coffee as a money-making crop on Java around 1700, the island, together with Yemen, supplied all of the coffee consumed in the world for the next 30 years. Thereafter, Java had to share the world coffee stage with a succession of other coffee origins, but retained enough of its original fame to command higher prices than most other coffees mainly on the basis of its name, much like Kona or Jamaica Blue Mountain do today.

But in the late 19^th century, coffee leaf rust disease, coffee’s great and continued scourge, wiped out virtually all Arabica coffee in Java. The Dutch responded by moving Arabica production to the mountains of East Java, where higher elevations discouraged leaf rust. There they established what are now called “government estates” dedicated to producing Arabica, and replaced Arabica with rust-resistant Robusta elsewhere on the island. These new large estates in East Java were set up along “modern” lines, meaning the coffee was processed using the latest wet or washed method, in which all of the fruit residue is removed or “washed” from the beans before they are dried, with the goal of achieving purity and consistency.

A large coffee estate in East Java.

Sumatra Takes Over

When I first began tasting these government estate Javas in the 1970s, I found a familiar conventionally wet-processed cup, similar to the style produced by many regions of the world then and now: straightforward, satisfying, but absent any striking characteristics that would help consistently differentiate it from any other of the world’s straightforward, satisfying coffees. These coffees were mainly distinguished by the simple fact that they were produced in Java, though certain lots might be more distinctive (mild spice tones usually) than others. Early in the specialty movement (1970s through 1990s), these large-estate Javas continued to appear with some prominence on specialty coffee menus. But given the tendency for specialty coffee consumers to look for coffees that tasted recognizably new and different, these large-estate Javas, with their mild, clean, yet unremarkable profiles, started to disappear from offering lists of the specialty coffee movement. What replaced them?

Coffees from Sumatra, the larger Indonesian island stretching west of Java. First popularized by Alfred Peet, Sumatras offered two appeals to the newly emerging specialty coffee movement that Javas did not. First, because the fruit was removed using a uniquely Indonesian system that we now call “wet-hulling,” Sumatra coffees tended to taste different from many other of the world’s coffees. They displayed their now celebrated “earthy” character (a mild mustiness that can suggest pleasant sensations like pipe tobacco or freshly turned humus), and they were strong-charactered and hearty enough to stand up to the then-fashionable dark roasting, which applied right to the right Sumatras turned the “earth” toward chocolate.

By comparison, the mild, proper government-estate Javas probably struck specialty dark-roast drinkers as a bit tame. Gradually Java disappeared as a go-to origin, and by around 2000 was close to disappearing entirely from North American specialty coffee menus.

So Why a Java Report?

Nevertheless, we decided to put Java on our report schedule this year because word was out among specialty coffee insiders that smallholding and startup growers on Java were beginning to produce a new generation of interesting, distinctive coffees that did not resemble the predictable East Java washed estate style of past decades.

True, we apparently were a bit premature in our sampling, as we were able to source only six Java-grown coffees. On the other hand, five of those six were from smaller producers, and all five were interesting, engaging coffees, suggesting that the importer-roaster community might want to pay a bit more attention to this new direction from an old origin. The six Javas we tested averaged a rating of 91, with a low of 84 and a high of 94. But if we exclude the one 84-rated anonymous Java, producer unnamed, the remaining five averaged a very impressive 92.6.

The freshness of approach among these five new-wave Java coffees was particularly reflected in the range of processing methods. Two of the five were processed using the traditional Indonesian wet-hulled method, two by variations on the natural method (dried in the whole fruit), and one by the conventional washed method.

Wet-Hulling, Earth Notes and Javas

In the wet-hulled method, the soft fruit residue is removed as it is in the traditional washed or wet method: by removing the skins from the fruit, loosening the sticky fruit flesh through fermentation, then washing the loosened flesh off the beans. However, in the wet-hulling variation of the washed method, the remaining moist, inner parchment skin, which is usually left on the beans until they are dried, is removed in the middle of the drying process, when the beans still retain somewhere between 20 percent and 40 percent moisture. The beans are dried the rest of the way, to 12 percent or 13 percent, after parchment removal. The result is a mild, fortuitous mustiness that, if everything goes well, lends the best wet-hulled coffees their unusual depth of sensation and their complex, fruit-twisting earth notes. This method is most famously associated with Sumatra, but is practiced almost everywhere in Indonesia where coffees are processed by smallholding farmers.

Java small-holding producer with freshly picked coffee.

With the top-rated Peach Coffee Blue Sunda Estate Java (94), earth hints simply contribute depth to the complex spice, chocolate and cedar of this intricate, original yet balanced wet-hulled coffee. The impact of wet-hulling is much more explicit in the Small Eyes Indonesia Java Sunda Supreme SC18 (92), with its sweet tobacco, oak and musky lily notes.

Among the other Javas we review, the Corvus Coffee Java Frinsa Estate Natural (93) shows some of the fruit-forward character popularly associated with dried-in-the-fruit or natural-processed coffees, but here manifested in a surprisingly brisk, tangy-bright character. The Equator Coffees Java Argopuro Mountain Anaerobic Natural (93) demonstrates how new Java producers are aware of the latest global trends in experimental processing. The Argopuro Mountain is fermented in the whole fruit in sealed tanks before drying, with the constrained exposure to oxygen during fermentation contributing a background lactic tang to the profile and intensifying both sweetness and complexity. Look for a fusion of pineapple and cocoa carrying from nose to finish in this fine, balanced anaerobic coffee.

Bali: Grace and Variety

The relatively small island of Bali, rising off the western tip of Java, shares little of Java’s long coffee history, though the Balinese people are well aware and proud of the “kopi Bali” they serve to the luckier among the many tourists who visit their amazing island every year.

Coffee-growing village, Kintamani highlands, Bali. Courtesy of Noble Coffee Roasting.

We had as much difficulty turning up Bali coffees as we did with Javas, ending with a similar total of only six samples. They averaged a solid rating of 89, however, with a low of 81 and a high of 93. Four are reviewed here.

The compact Bali growing region, situated in the central Kintamani highlands of the island, now produces mainly natural-processed coffee, along with some wet-hulled and selections processed by more experimental methods. The practice of natural processing, or drying coffee in the whole fruit, apparently was first suggested to Balinese farmers a couple of decades ago by the California arm of importer Royal Coffee as a water-saving alternative to the usual Indonesian wet-hulled method.

We review two Bali naturals. The Bassline Coffee Bali Kintamani (93) is an impressive rendition of the lusher style of natural, in this case deep, brandy- and chocolate-toned, with a particularly fine floral sweetness. The Succulent Coffee Roasters Bali Kintamani (92) leans more toward the savory nut-and-cocoa expression of the style, here enlivened by a tart-sweet raspberry.

Noble Coffee Roasting’s Kintamani Bali (92) is processed by the traditional Indonesian wet-hulled method, and expresses the genius of wet-hulling with unusual delicacy: No earth notes here; instead, sweet pipe tobacco, cedar and date. Those who enjoy traditional Sumatras but find them a bit too blunt may enjoy this graceful Balinese rendering of the style.

Finally, Taiwanese roaster Kopi Ibrik offers a “yeast-honey” processed Bali (91). Kopi Ibrik is a roastery-café in the intimate tradition of Taiwanese neighborhood coffee places. Owner Guangyou Zhang does his best to combine Turkish inspiration and Turkish-style brewing with contemporary specialty coffee practices. Apparently, his Bali was fermented with the addition of cultured yeasts before it was dried with skin and pulp removed, but with the fruit flesh or mucilage (the “honey”) still coating the beans. In the cup, peach and caramel sweetness overlap deep savory notes that our tasters associated with shiitake mushroom. Despite the forcefulness of the shiitake side of the profile, this is a very delicate coffee overall, with additional teasing hints of flowers.

Coffee grows beneath the shade trees along the top of this photo, overlooking other crops in the intensely but reverently cultivated landscape of Bali.

Spiritual Coffee: Subak Abian

Subak, the traditional irrigation system in Bali, was developed in the 9th century. A subak not only manages water for member farms, but is a community-based system that supports a sustainable relationship with nature and among those who belong to the subak. Subaks are premised on Tri Hita Karana—a Hindu principle aimed at maintaining harmony among humans, nature and god. A subak yeh is related to rice farming, while a subak abian is traditionally associated with dry land crops like coffee. It appears that most coffees from the Kintamani highlands are produced by subak abians.

Enjoy These and Look for More

However limited our sampling, the eight Java and Bali coffees reviewed here suggest the wide-ranging possibilities and pleasures offered by these two origins today, as new processing methods join the local wet-hulled tradition to generate an exciting, globalizing menu of coffee possibility.

Thanks to those who enriched this report by sharing ideas and information regarding Java or Bali coffees: Phil Goodlaxson, Corvus Coffee Roasters; Tim Hester, Bassline Coffee; Adam Monaghan, Succulent Coffee Roasters; Josh Puckett, Peach Coffee Roasters; Jared Rennie, Noble Coffee Roasting; Ted Stachura, Equator Coffees; Tom from Small Eyes Café; Guangyou Zhang, Kopi Ibrik.

The post Old Style and New: Coffees of Java and Bali appeared first on Coffee Review.

Edwin Noreña checks on his Double Carbonic Galaxy Hops Geisha at Finca Campo Hermoso in Colombia. Courtesy of Barrington Coffee Roasting Co.

Of all of the innovations challenging traditional expectations in specialty coffee today, the use of anaerobic (limited oxygen) fermentation to alter and intensify the character of the cup is perhaps the most striking. Anaerobic-fermented coffees that explicitly and successfully express this method tend to be intense and almost shockingly floral and fruit-toned, with the flowers often boosted by a candyish sweetness and surprising spice and herb notes.

Many in the specialty coffee world love them for their sheer difference from ordinary coffees, for the audacity of their soaring flowers and seduction of their sweetness. A few find their profiles too over-the-top, their floral notes perhaps less like fresh bouquets and more like eau-de-cologne, their fruit more Juicy Fruit gum than fresh fruit. Many in the coffee world look at anaerobic-fermented coffees as the latest step forward in freeing specialty coffee from the predictability of its commodity past and thrusting it into a future of exciting new coffee experiences unlike any that have come before. Others look at these new, processing-driven coffee styles as another step in the erosion of the reliable practices that have created and maintain the great coffee types they love, the classic Kenyas and washed Ethiopias, subtle washed Perus and earthy wet-hulled Sumatras.

The best way for readers to take a position on all of that is to try a couple of the coffees we review this month. We cupped through 90 coffees described by their roasters as having been subject to anaerobic fermentation (for a little more on what that means technically, see the section Complex Events at the Mill farther along in this report). These 90 anaerobic samples averaged a score of 89, with a high of 95 and a low of 79. In choosing 10 coffees to review, we focused on samples that most clearly and pleasingly expressed the full-on floral, fruit and spice genius of the style.

Sketching the Anaerobic Style

What is that style? Most universally, all genuinely anaerobically processed coffees share the same pervasive aromatic tendency. If you’ve opened one bag you’ll know it. If you open two bags, you’ll probably never forget it. This aromatic complex is apparently created during the limited-oxygen fermentation undergone by all anaerobic coffees. It is a scent related to the aromas of certain other mainly bacterially fermented foods and beverages, like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha. In terms of basic tastes, it is a version of sour-sweetness. At Coffee Review, we have settled on tangy-sweet rather than sour-sweet as an appropriate generic descriptor for this sensation as it displays in coffee.

Anaerobically fermented whole coffee cherries at Colombia’s Finca El Placer. Courtesy of Chromatic Coffee.

One striking feature of this aromatic tendency is that you experience it immediately, as soon as you open a bag of anaerobically fermented coffee. Yet, once you brew that coffee, it is much less dominating. In the cup, tendencies we noted earlier come into play. If it is a successful anaerobic, free of faults such as vinegar-like over-fermentation or mulchy vegetable notes, you will likely experience intense sweetness. This sweetness will usually be complicated by a tangy, lactic version of acidity and sometimes balanced by a savory depth related to spice and nut. What you will most likely also experience is a sometimes coherent, sometimes jumbled assortment of intense and often idiosyncratic flavor notes. For example, it is not at all unusual to have candyish notes like bubblegum waft up next to baking spice suggestions like cardamom. Floral notes are sometimes so screamingly intense that they seem to express the very abstract nature of flowers.

Coffee Review and Anaerobics

We had many discussions at Coffee Review about how we should approach reporting on this increasingly popular coffee style. We wanted to respect its originality, yet avoid celebrating it purely because of that originality. We wanted to find an appropriate structure for evaluating the success of specific examples of the anaerobic style, as we did some years ago for natural-processed coffees when they first surged in popularity.

Ultimately, I took responsibility for the final ratings, working with descriptions and draft ratings from my two Q-grader colleagues, Jason Sarley and Kim Westerman. My approach was to value versions of the style that are balanced and relatively coherent, versions in which the floral and fruit notes are contexted into something generally recognizable as coffee, and in which sweetness comes across as natural rather than candyish or cloying. In other words, coffees that are exciting and different, but still taste like coffee and not like a conglomerate of cologne and sugar.

The Roaster Context: Pursuit of Balance

Sebastian Ramirez, of Finca El Placer in Colombia, checking on drying anaerobic fruit. Courtesy of Chromatic Coffee.

Judging from my correspondence with the 10 roasters whose coffees are reviewed here, I have plenty of support in valuing balance in anaerobics, balance usually meaning that the impact of the processing method enhances or intensifies, but does not completely dominate the coffee.

“I am most drawn to gently applied anaerobic methods that achieve surprising and elusive profiles.” Barth Anderson, Barrington Coffee Roasting Company (Galaxy Gesha Quindio Colombia, 95).

“Good anaerobics enhance and intensify the cup with clean sweet flavors … Bad or less good anaerobics seem overly processed or fake or imitation.” Mike Perry, Klatch Coffee (Colombia Monteblanco Rodrigo Sanchez Carbonic Maceration, 94).

“Definitely just because a coffee is anaerobic does not mean that it’s good. I personally love clean, fruity anaerobic-processed coffees, [but] I don’t like it when coffees take on more ferment flavors than coffee flavors.” Oliver Stormshak, Olympia Coffee (Ethiopia Gatta Anaerobic, 94).

The Origin Perspective

This innovative processing method was applied to coffee from some of the most prestigious of tree varieties — Geisha, Pink Bourbon — as well as more common, less distinctive-tasting varieties. Eight of the 10 coffees reviewed online were produced in southern and central Colombia; one was grown in Ethiopia and one in Hawaii. Although anaerobics are popping up everywhere, the method is probably currently most popular in Colombia, Ethiopia and Panama, where it appears to have originated. The preponderance of southern Colombia in this month’s reviews is partly related to season: The months following the beginning of the year are when the new crop from southern Colombia arrives in the Northern Hemisphere. However, it also appears that some Colombian producers are pursuing the anaerobic method with particular rigor and attention to detail. See the summaries of processing methods in the Notes paragraphs of the reviews for just a hint of the complexity of the anaerobic practices pursued by the producers of some of this month’s top-rated coffees.

The Consumer Angle

What do coffee consumers think about these unconventional, often flamboyant coffees?

All of the roasters whose coffees we reviewed this month agreed that anaerobics are popular with their consumers — in some cases, very popular. Gary Liao of Taiwan roaster GK Coffee (Colombia Finca El Paraiso Rose Tea, 94) points out that anaerobics make it easier for customers to identify flavor profiles because aromatic notes are more intense and idiosyncratic. “Most customers find it hard to get ‘floral’ or ‘citrus,’” he writes, “but with anaerobics they find flavors like ‘wine,’ ‘cinnamon’ or ‘pineapple.’ They tend to buy coffees in which they can notice the flavors.”

Jairo Arcila of Finca Santa Monica in Colombia. Courtesy of Royal Flamingo Coffee.

Roasters also praised anaerobics for their capacity to surprise customers and shock them into realizing that not all coffees taste the same. “Anaerobic coffees are definitely a conversation starter,” notes Bryan Brzozowski, roaster and co-founder of Royal Flamingo Coffee (Colombia Jairo Arcila Peach Maceration, 93). Adam Paronto, owner/founder of Reprise Coffee Roasters (Colombia Cauca Granja Paraiso Pink Bourbon, 94), adds: “We’ve found this process to be a major catalyst for coffee education. Most of our customer base is unfamiliar with coffee processing and a vast majority is unaware that … coffee is a fermented beverage. When they see a word like ‘anaerobic’ on our menu, it paves the way for a great conversation, opening the door to understanding other coffee processing methods.”

Nevertheless, some roasters hinted at consumer ambivalence. “Anaerobic coffees can be polarizing. Some customers love them, while some prefer more traditional coffees,” PERC Coffee Roasters‘ Director of Operations Taylor Kimball (Colombia Gesha Spirits Semi-Washed Anaerobic, 93) observes. Mike Perry and Heather Perry of Klatch Coffee add: “The great thing about coffees with this type of profile is everyone who tastes it can say, ‘Wow, that is different.’ And while some may love the difference, drinking a whole pot of it may be a little intense.”

The way anaerobic practices encourage and reward the creativity of the producer is also a virtue particularly valued by roasters. Hiver van Geenhoven, founder and director of coffee at Chromatic Coffee (Colombia Purple Fruit Anaerobic, 93) points out: “Customers may be interested in origin stories, but they also love dessert and signature beverages that play with ingredients. Now, [with anaerobics] instead of just crafting fun and creative signature beverages in our cafés, that stage can be shared with a producer who has a direct hand in the manipulation of flavor.”

Complex Events at the Mill

There are many variations on how anaerobic fermentation is performed, but all involve fermenting coffee in a sealed environment with no to very limited access to oxygen. Contact with oxygen encourages yeast fermentation and the production of alcohol. On the other hand, shutting the coffee inside sealed vessels (usually plastic or metal tanks) encourages oxygen-free bacterial fermentation of the general kind that contributes to the production of sweet-tangy fermented foods and beverages like yogurt, kimchi, sour beers and kombucha. What happens during anaerobic fermentations is quite complex chemically, however, and a variety of yeasts and lactic-acid bacteria play a role, presumably accounting for the fusion of great sweetness and yogurt-like tang characteristic of these coffees.

In some cases, the act of limiting a coffee’s access to atmosphere and oxygen during fermentation is as simple as sealing the fermenting coffee inside bags for a relatively short time. But more often it involves complex, lengthy procedures involving closed tanks and control of pressure and temperature. If CO2 is injected into the tanks to accelerate the purging of air and oxygen, the process and coffee may be called “carbonic maceration,” a term brought over, along with many of the specific practices involved, from the wine world.

Coffee may be anaerobically fermented and dried as whole fruit (making it an “anaerobic natural”) or fermented in the fruit, then skinned and dried in the fruit flesh only (“anaerobic honey”) or fermented and dried after both skin and fruit flesh have been removed (“anaerobic washed”). Or, there may be two fermentations, one involving the whole fruit, and a second of the same beans with skins removed. Temperature and pressure inside the tanks are usually carefully monitored.

Miguel Meza of Paradise Roasters processes a JN Farms Bourbon himself, using a malolactic honey anaerobic fermentation method. Courtesy of Miguel Meza.

Pressure may be one key to the originality of the anaerobic cup profile. Pressure caused by buildup of CO2 inside the sealed fermentation tanks could help produce the sometimes astonishing display of fruit and floral notes in the final anaerobic cup by encouraging migration of fruit and floral compounds into the bean.

Many producers further complicate both the process and the final cup by adding material to the fermentation tanks, particularly cultured yeasts of the kind used in beer and wine production. With the report-topping 95-rated Barrington Galaxy Gesha Quindio Colombia, a batch of famously aromatic Galaxy hops was applied to the coffee at one point in the complex series of processing procedures. More controversially, natural fruit or spices may be shut into the tanks with the fermenting coffee. In the 93-rated Royal Flamingo Colombia Jairo Arcila Peach Maceration, natural peach pulp was added to the tank during fermentation, and pieces of peach were scattered among the drying beans.

Youngjun Cho, of Prism Coffee Works, brews coffee at his shop in Seoul.

“Flavored Coffee?”

In our report coming in November of this year, we plan to look specifically into the anaerobics segment of specialty production that adds natural fruit or spices to the fermentation tank. Youngjun Cho of Prism Coffee Works in Korea (Colombia Osmanthus Bouquet Granja Paraiso 92 Colombia, 94), reports that anaerobic-fermented coffees generally are being criticized in Korean specialty coffee circles on the basis that they are “flavored coffee.” Cho argues that anaerobic coffees like his and most of the other coffees reviewed in this report are legitimate, non-flavored specialty coffees because they achieve their distinction through using only “environmental controls such as yeast, bacteria and temperature.” But he feels that those that add fruit or spices to the tank make up a different, more controversial category he calls “infused” coffee. Tune in to our November 2023 report “Fruit- and Spice-Fermented Coffees: The Cup and the Controversy,” for more on this contentious issue.

Anaerobics and Terroir

Anaerobic processing appears to be here to stay. And, in many respects, it is unprecedented in its potential impact on the specialty coffee world. Natural or whole-fruit processing may have seemed like a revolution when it was first applied to high-end coffees that until then had been processed only through traditional washed methods. But natural-processed coffees have a history as long as coffee itself, far longer than washed coffees. Honey processing is also a rather straightforward development, well within technologies and understandings already established in coffee practice.

But the technological and chemical mediations involved in anaerobics, even at the modest scale they are deployed now, seem a more radical departure from any of these earlier practices. Anaerobic methods bring to coffee technical interventions that originate in wine and in some cases beer, and invite the producer to create often radical profiles based on personal innovation rather than community expression of coffee tradition as conveyed in the term terroir.

Aerial view of Finca Monteblanco in Colombia’s Huila Department. Courtesy of Klatch Coffee.

Terroir in wine and many other products is most accurately understood not simply as geography, but also as associated plant varieties and preparation methods as defined by tradition and often regulation. Great legacy types in coffee are products of a linked series of collaborative practices performed by the supply chain and determined by market expectations and tradition. Kenya coffee, a well-defined legacy type, is not only grown in a relatively limited geography, but it’s also produced from trees of certain tree varieties and processed using similar technologies and methods. Apply radical anaerobic processing to a coffee from the traditional growing regions of central Kenya, even one produced from traditional Kenya varieties like SL28 or SL34, and it will no longer express the Kenya “terroir.” It will simply be an anaerobic coffee from Kenya.

Miguel Meza of Paradise Roasters (Ka‘ū JN Farms Malolactic Honey, 95), a relentless innovator in respect to processing methods, suggests that anaerobic processing is best applied to coffees that are themselves not particularly distinctive. He says: “Generally we find mouthfeel and aroma to be intensified in anaerobic fermentations, and very beneficial to the quality of lower altitude coffees, as well as helpful in adding complexity to less distinctive varieties. But with anaerobic natural processing, the flavors of the process can be very dominant and the differentiation between varieties muted, so I don’t favor this method for expensive, limited production of rarer varieties that may have their distinctive qualities largely masked by the processing.”

Headed in the Opposite Direction from Wine?

Curiously, just at an historic moment when some in the wine world are reacting against “manipulated” wines by returning to simpler, less chemically or technologically mediated processes under the organic or low-intervention banners, we in coffee appear to be headed in the opposite direction with the latest anaerobics.

It may be that the coffee world will manage to assimilate and understand anaerobic methods as it apparently has with natural processing methods. I recall that even as few as five years ago we ran into many natural-processed coffees that were either over-fermented, giving them a slightly rotten edge, or, at the other extreme, dried too quickly and consequently too woody or nutty, bordering on lifeless.

At least at Coffee Review, we run into very few such failed naturals today. We more often sample naturals that are fruit-forward but clean, poised and complete. Perhaps innovators in aerobic processing will find their way to an analogous refinement that will offer the coffee world the “balanced” anaerobic profiles that many of this month’s correspondents say they are looking for. What will be the character of that balance?

I expect we’ll know it when we taste it.

Thanks to the roasters who greatly enriched this report by sharing their ideas and experience regarding anaerobic coffees: Beth Brzozowski, Bryan Brzozowski, Youngjun Cho, Gary and Kai Liao, Taylor Kimball, Miguel Meza, Adam Paronto, Heather Perry, Mike Perry, Oliver Stormshak, and Hiver van Geenhoven.

The post Fresh Fruit or “Juicy Fruit”? Tasting 90 Anaerobic-Processed Coffees appeared first on Coffee Review.

What is trending in the specialty coffee world for 2023? What will be 2023’s major controversies or issues? Which origin countries or regions should Coffee Review look in on? Every December brings a round of often intense debate and speculation as we at Coffee Review exchange emails and bang heads trying to come up with topics for the following year’s 10 tasting reports.

For these reports, we test anywhere from 30 to 100 coffees that relate to the report topic. Based on our tasting, descriptions and ratings, we choose 10 or more coffees that we review in detail, and that provide the descriptive backbone for each report.

Here are our report topics for 2023, many chosen with particular focus on what we see as specialty coffee trends in the coming year.

February 2023: Coffees from Roasters in Ski Country

We start the year with a seasonal report by having a look at what local roasters are up to in ski country. Beyond the “coffee” served at mostly corporate eateries at ski lodges, whose chief characteristics are “hot” and “brown,” what else is going on in the base-camp towns where residents also get their morning fix? We review a range of coffees from specialty roasters in proximity to North American slopes.

March 2023: The Anaerobic Processing Trend

Lately, coffee producers and their export partners have been busy aiming to excite the coffee world with new taste profiles created by experimenting with processing methods, i.e., how the fruit is removed from the beans and how they are dried. The almost universal processing method for fine coffee up to around 2010 or so was the wet or washed method, in which the soft fruit residue is entirely removed from the beans after harvest and before they are dried. The supremacy of the washed method in fine coffee was first challenged by a return to the ancient dry or natural method, in which the beans are dried in the entire fruit, giving us the now-familiar “naturals” with their potential for sweetness and fruit character. Around the same time, a fashion for “honey” processing took off — here, the skins of the coffee fruit are removed immediately after picking, but the beans are dried with at least some of the sweet, sticky fruit flesh still adhering to them.

And now, we are being inundated with “anaerobic-” processed coffees, meaning that, at some point in their journey from tree to drying table, the beans are sealed inside tanks to ferment with no (or very little) exposure to oxygen, discouraging oxygen-loving, sweet-alcohol-promoting yeasts while encouraging oxygen-averse bacteria. The bacteria-rich ferment often promotes a tangy sweetness with a slight lactic edge, as well as frequently surprising aromatic notes that can range from musk to bubble gum. There are many variations on the anaerobic method with varying sensory outcomes. For example, the fermentation may take place after removal of the skin (anaerobic honey or washed) or before the removal of the skin and drying (anaerobic natural).

We will revisit the anaerobic phenomenon in our March 2023 report. Will our testing of a broad range of anaerobics suggest that the latest flood of such experiments is expressing the method with more finesse, perhaps taming it, smoothing it out? Or do the exciting, often peculiar, occasionally disturbing sensory surprises of the method still dominate, delighting coffee adventurers while provoking traditionalists?

April 2023: Testing Those Ubiquitous Coffee Bags

Ground coffee in steepable filter bags (they look roughly like tea bags, but are larger) sold in single-serve nitrogen-flushed, atmosphere-protective packaging seem to be popping up on virtually every roasting company website we visit of late. The pitch, of course, is convenience: no grinding, no measuring, just pull the bag out of its little envelope and immerse it the right temperature water for the right length of time. In most cases, the coffee inside the bags is specialty quality, and the bags and packaging make a mighty effort to reduce waste and potential negative impact on the environment.

This coming April we test and review coffees sold pre-ground in single-serve steepable bags.

But how good is the beverage produced by these convenient little expedients? What impact does grinding and packaging, months in advance of brewing, have on exceptional coffees? And which of the many roaster and coffee names on the bags are likely to produce an exciting cup?

We look forward to finding out and sharing our findings with our readers in our April 2023 report and reviews.

May 2023: A Reviving Origin — Java and Bali

One massive trend throughout the specialty coffee world is the breakdown of a predictable relationship between country of origin and cup profile. Widespread experimentation with processing methods and introduction of new tree varieties are complicating the once familiar relationships between cup character and origin. Looking back over our recent reports on coffees by origin country, often half or more of the samples we receive represent coffee types not typical of the origin we are surveying. With our recent cupping of Mexico coffees, for example, only 40% of the coffees sent to us by roasters were processed by the traditional washed method, which, for decades, constituted an absolutely essential indicator of a high-quality Mexico coffee.

The growing discrepancy between country of origin and predictable cup character explains why we are planning more frequent reports on processing method and variety in 2023 than reports on specific coffee origins. We are, however, planning a report on the interesting developments on the Indonesian island of Java, where the longstanding traditional profile of Java coffee, based on standard washed coffees produced by a handful of government-owned estates, is now being supplemented by a lively community of smallholding producers who are turning out an array of interesting coffees ranging from traditional Indonesian wet-hulled coffees to natural, anaerobic and traditional washed types. This complexity is being supplemented by a similarly varied production from the neighboring island of Bali. Look for our May 2023 report on the coffees of Java and Bali.

June 2023: Lighter Roasts and Dark-Roast Confusion

What is a “dark-roasted” coffee in 2023? With many of the smaller upmarket roasters who submit coffees to Coffee Review, “dark roasts” may not be dark at all. They are most often what we could call “medium-dark” or even “medium” roasts, in which even a trained palate will have difficulty picking up a hint of the rich, scorchy taste beloved by those who like “real” dark roasts. Yet, if we look in the opposite direction, toward companies that built their original brands on clearly defined dark roasts, like Starbucks and Peet’s, we face the opposite ambiguity. A Starbucks “blonde” roast, for example, the lightest roast Starbucks generally distributes, is almost the same darkness of roast as are most third-wave roasters’ “dark” roasts. We know because we measure darkness of roast by instrument, in our case an Agtron near-infrared spectrophotometer that reliably identifies degree or darkness of roast.

Where does that leave consumers? Confused, most likely, particularly if they try to choose roast color by the language on coffee bags and websites.

What makes a roast “dark”? Contemporary coffee roasters differ on their definitions. Courtesy of Kenneth Davids.

In our June 2023 report, we’ll do our best to sort through the language and the reality of today’s dark-roast labels in North American specialty coffee, along with, of course, reviews of the best examples of both kinds of “dark” roasts, old and new.

July 2023: Reviewing Alternative Milks for Espresso

Part of a much larger movement away from animal-based foods, most contemporary cafés now offer customers at least one, often several, plant-based substitutes for dairy milk in drinks like cappuccino and caffè latte, including soy milk, almond milk, oat milk and others.

A spectrum of plant-based milks. For our July 2023 report we test and review a range of such alternative milks as they perform when frothed and combined with espresso.

For our July 2023 report, we’ll test several plant-based milks widely used in the coffee world. The focus will not be on the coffee but rather on the performance of the milk substitutes: in sensory partnership with the coffee, in ease of use, and in the texture and resilience of the froth. We will choose coffees of two different roast levels to test with the alternative milks.

August 2023: Women Producers in Charge

In our June 2017 report, we first considered women coffee producers in a global context. We turned up a heartening number of roasters focused on highlighting women-farmed coffees, as well as several non-profits dedicated to empowering women farmers. In our August 2023 report, we’ll look at the current players in the important work of supporting and making more visible the agricultural contributions of women to the coffee industry and review the finest women-farmed coffees we turn up from their roaster partners.

September 2023: Making Sense of All Those Ethiopias

Is Ethiopia itself something of a trend? Possibly, judging by the sheer number of reviews of Ethiopias crowding our review pages, outnumbering reviews of coffees from most other origins. The reasons for this are many, but most are tributes to Ethiopia’s unique place in in the world of coffee. Coffea arabica originated in Ethiopia, and coffees grown there today are virtually entirely produced from selections of indigenous coffee, almost all with genetic-driven potential for vivid aroma/flavor notes and balanced, sweet-leaning structure.

Ethiopian couple enjoying coffee in a village coffee ceremony in 1999 in the Yirgacheffe region. Courtesy of Kenneth Davids.

We have the idea, however, that the sheer volume of reviews of Ethiopia coffees may discourage some readers from fully exploring their unique pleasures. So, with our September 2023 report, we’ll look back at Ethiopia coffees reviewed in previous months, perhaps supplemented by additional samples freshly sourced, and offer an outline of Ethiopia coffee styles and cups, together with ways readers might look beyond rating numbers to the details of our reviews when choosing Ethiopia coffees to enjoy.

October 2023: Hoping for Another Geisha — Rare Regional Varieties Go Global

The Geisha/Gesha variety of Arabica, originating in Ethiopia but rediscovered and first publicized in Panama in 2004, has changed the face of specialty coffee. Geisha’s startlingly distinctive character confirmed that variety counts in the cup, and that the botanical variety of Arabica tree is one of the leading factors that impacts a coffee’s cup quality and character. Since then, Geisha has been carried to many parts of the coffee-growing world, including a revival in its original home in Ethiopia, and, as it gradually becomes less precious and less costly, is on its way to becoming a commonplace high-end coffee pleasure.

Another impact of Geisha has been to set the coffee world searching for additional distinctive, potentially superstar varieties. Wush Wush (Ethiopia), Sidra (Ecuador), Pink Bourbon (Colombia) and Sudan Rume are among varieties that display a distinctive cup profile, and are being promoted as something different and exciting, deserving to be planted in fields far from their original homes. The increasing affordability of genetic fingerprinting has intensified and supported this quest. A group of researchers has discovered varieties of Arabica in Yemen that appear to be unique to that country. Varieties like Ecuador’s Sidra, once considered a local spontaneous hybrid of Bourbon and Typica, may, based on genetic fingerprinting, turn out to be an Ethiopia variety naturalized far from its original home.

Look for our October 2023 report, which will focus on coffees produced by these new variety-star hopefuls.

November 2023: The Fermenting-with-Fruit Trend

On the heels of the challenge to tradition represented by anaerobic processing (see the preview of our March 2023 report above), still another processing wrinkle is arriving to challenge coffee purists. A few innovating coffee producers have begun to add natural fruit or spices to the fermentation tank along with the coffee fruit or beans. This procedure does not produce the sensory equivalent of the artificially flavored beans that coffee enthusiasts have long condemned, with their overstated, metallic, cloying flavors. So far, our limited tasting of natural fruit-fermented coffees has found that their added aroma/flavor notes are generally well-integrated into the basic coffee profile rather than an intrusive, distracting overlay.

Still, the procedure is understandably offensive to coffee traditionalists. In particular, some coffee leaders who support Cup of Excellence and similar green coffee competitions argue that these fruit-added fermentation experiments are essentially cheating on the fundamental act of coffee production. A few critics have attacked the anaerobic processing practices sketched earlier in this report on similar grounds.

For our November 2023 report, we will taste as many of these fermented-with-natural-fruit (or spice) experiments as we can turn up. After sampling a range of them, we will review those we consider most successful and report on the status of the controversy around them.

An Eventful Year Ahead for Coffee

Innovation and change in the specialty coffee world show no sign of slowing down, while traditionalists push back with ever more refined resistance. We’re looking forward to a provocative and engaging year of tasting. We hope you’ll come along.

The post 2023 Preview: Coffee Trends, Controversies and Change appeared first on Coffee Review.

Spreading coffee fruit for drying in Ethiopia. Courtesy of Royal Coffee NY.

While there is much to be said for the new and different in coffee — for surprising new cup profiles generated by the latest processing methods, tiny lots of coffee produced from newly rediscovered tree varieties — there is also a lot to be said for the pleasures of consistency. Even for those coffee lovers willing to pay big bucks for a few extraordinary cups of a super-distinctive Geisha fermented in sealed tanks with special yeasts, the morning may come when they may want a cup that pleases less with surprise and more with everyday satisfaction. Something special, but perhaps not $80-per-four-ounces special. The same reasonably priced special cup they enjoyed last week, say, or two weeks ago, or even last month. 

And although predictable satisfaction can be gotten from blends, a blend can be, at the other extreme, a bit too predictable. So, what fills in the gap between pricey, fleetingly available microlots and everyday blends? 

A Sumatra Drinker for Life

Everyday single-origin coffees, of course, the subject of this report. Coffees from a single country, usually from a single region or farm/cooperative, bought by the roaster in sufficient quantity to sell for some time, for months or longer. Usually, roasters do their best maintain continuity from year to year by buying from the same farm or exporter. They also try to buy beans that are well-conditioned and stand up to storage.

Such single-origin coffees with their familiar market names – Colombia Supremo, Guatemala Antigua, Kenya AA – were once the mainstay of specialty coffee. In a sense these origin names are brands that specialty roasters tap into free of charge. Their customers often have their favorites. I had a close friend who drank nothing but Sumatra Mandheling bought from Peet’s Coffee for almost her entire life. If she went someplace that wasn’t Peet’s she would still look for a Sumatra Mandheling.

When we put out a call for today’s versions of such staple single-origin coffees, coffees that have been purchased by the roaster in enough volume to roast and offer over the course of months, we received nearly 60 coffees from about 40 different roasting companies in North America and Taiwan.

A Quiet Individuality

We did get one Sumatra, a rather nice coffee, with enough earth and tobacco to please my friend, but not enough for us to overlook its rather downbeat structure. But what else did we get?

In fact, an impressive range of what we asked for. True, many of the everyday single-origins we received were a little too familiar, simply too everyday, as it were. Maybe good enough to get us satisfyingly awake and out the door but not distinctive enough to give us a little goose of pleasure or surprise, to persuade us to pay attention to what we’re drinking.

But the best of these 60 samples proposed a quiet individuality, a place where the familiar and surprising intersect. We review 10 of these exceptional everyday coffees here.

Everyday Coffees and Processing Method

Most of the samples we received were processed by the conventional wet or washed method, the standard processing method for mainstream quality coffee. A substantial minority, however, (12 of 60) were processed by the ancient, but increasingly trendy, dried-in-the-fruit or natural method. But we received almost no samples processed by latest alternative or experimental methods. For example, we received only one sample processed using a variation of the fashionable anaerobic (limited oxygen ferment) method and only two by the honey method.

Washed-process coffees drying in trays, Ethiopia. Courtesy of importer Pebble Coffee, Taiwan.

The predominance of washed coffees is not because the wet method is cheaper for producers than, say, the natural method. What it reflects is the fact that washed or wet-processed coffees are generally more reliable and predictable than coffees processed by other methods, particularly when produced in larger quantities. Recall that in the washed method the fruit flesh is removed before the beans are dried, reducing the risk of various off-tastes developing from contact between bean and fruit residue during drying. (While also, of course, reducing the opportunity to customize such drying in an effort to achieve the fruit-forward notes enjoyed by many contemporary coffee drinkers). Also, because washed coffees are used in large quantities in premium or quality blending throughout the world, they are more dependably available for smaller specialty roasters looking for everyday single-origin coffees of the kind we report on this month. 

Of course, it is also probably true that some consumers who gravitate to these everyday single-origins may particularly welcome the consistency and familiarity of washed profiles. Ian Picco, Director of Coffee at Topeca Coffee, reports that “we cater to two distinct segments of coffee consumers: those who value variety and like to try new origins and coffee profiles, and those who appreciate the comfort and predictability of their one favorite blend or single origin bean. The latter group far outweighs the former, so it’s important to cater to this crowd in addition to keeping things fresh with seasonal offerings.” Several roasters who corresponded with me on this month’s topic made a similar point.

A Range of Washed Coffees

Nevertheless, coffees processed by the washed method are hardly taste-alike clones. The tree varieties that produce the coffee vary, the details of the wet processing vary, the weather varies, terroirs vary.

Producer from the Laboyano Group of growers, Colombia. Courtesy of importer The Coffee Quest.

One thing is certain: The eight washed coffees we review this month embody an exciting and engaging range of the type. At the pure, bright, straightforward end of the washed spectrum, I would place the Topeca Colombia Laboyano (92), a fine classic coffee in the high-grown Colombia mode: clean, direct, with a bright but smooth acidity and simple but satisfying apricot/stone fruit nuance. The Speedwell El Salvador Monte Verde (92) is similarly pure in profile but considerably softer in expression (most likely owing to lower growing elevations), with gently expressed acidity, deep sweetness, and cocoa, flowers and nut. Remarkably, given the traumas El Salvador has endured over recent decades, it is roughly the same elegantly gentle style of washed El Salvador I admired over 40 years ago when I wrote my first book on coffee. Derek Anderson, owner of Speedwell, says his company focuses particularly on El Salvador, Guatemala and Colombia when looking for larger lots of coffee for long-term offerings, concluding, “We really do embrace the challenge to find and roast these great single-origin coffees that do not break the bank, nor disappear in a month.”

Magnolia Coffee’s 92-point Papua New Guinea Timuza Organic. Courtesy of Magnolia Coffee.

The Magnolia Timuza (92) organic from the often-overlooked origin Papua New Guinea (92) is another sweetly bright classic, here with a crisp edge to the acidity and orangy and almondy aromatics. Jay Gestwicki, Founder and Director of Coffee at Magnolia, reports, “Coffees from Papua New Guinea have become a big part of our program. They are still quite rare in the scope of coffee, and they introduce people to unique tastes without being so different that they can turn people away from thinking they don’t like specialty coffee. Our Papua New Guinea Timuza is a great example — it’s an easy-drinking washed coffee, yet it has enough complexity and nuance for anyone to notice it’s special.”

Enter the Ethiopias

Of the 10 coffees we review this month, six were produced in Ethiopia. And based on ratings, we could have reviewed at least two more Ethiopias. We held off because we did not want too much focus on only one origin, however admirable its production. 

Why so many Ethiopias? Almost certainly because Ethiopian tree varieties are unique in the world with respect to the distinctive character of their aromatic profiles. Recall that Geisha/Gesha is an Ethiopian variety. And these distinctive Ethiopia coffees tend to be plentiful and reasonable in price. 

Of the six Ethiopias we did review, five are washed process, though, again, the washed profiles vary. Two, the St1 Cafe Ethiopia Guji Raro (93) and the MK Coffee Roasters Sidamo Washed (93), display the sweet brightness of classic washed coffees but tempered by the gentleness and fragrant complexity particularly associated with Ethiopia. I found that I used the words “suave” and “balanced” when reviewing both of these coffees, and for both cited a similar vanilla-like slant to their layered floral character. Carrie Chang of St1 Café reported that the Guji Raro was her “June and July sales champion” because many of her customers “like the soft, gently and sweet floral notes.”

Three more washed Ethiopias displayed variations on another characteristic tendency of the southern washed Ethiopia type: soft and gentle, but also crisp, brisk, often spicy. These variations in profile could be owing to exposure to moisture during drying (it tends to drizzle in many of the famous southern Ethiopia regions during harvest), but there doubtless are other reasons as well. With the Cup to Cup Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Kochere (93), the crisp, spicy, savory-edged tendency is reinforced by a darkish medium roast. The Cup to Cup also displays a remarkably full mouthfeel. James Spano, owner/operator of Cup to Cup, tells us that he has offered this coffee in its seasonal incarnations for over ten years.

The Fieldheads Ethiopia Sidama (93) and the Evie’s Café Ethiopia Botabaa (93) display a tendency in washed Ethiopias that I particularly admire: a paradox or overlap between the sweet, delicate and floral and the brisk and savory tendencies of the southern Ethiopia washed type. Both Ben Storest, owner/roaster at Fieldheads and Evelyn Chang of Evie’s Café report that they offer these coffees regularly and that they rank high among their customers’ favorites.  

The Fruit and the Naturals

Finally, to the minority dried-in-the-fruit or natural-processed samples. From the 12 naturals we tested, we review two here. Red Rooster sent a Papua New Guinea (PNG) natural (92) from Baroida Estate, a long-established farm in the Eastern Highlands of the country. Most PNGs are wet-processed and often foreground a sort of grapefruity citrus brightness probably promoted by the exceptionally high PNG growing elevations. The Red Rooster PNG is, indeed, bright, but its natural processing appears to encourage a savory base, big body and a complex aromatic range that combines flowers, soft citrus, and a fragrant, incense-like pungency suggesting fresh tobacco. 

Natural processed coffee being sun-dried in Ethiopia. Courtesy of importer Pebble Coffee, Taiwan.

The champion of the cupping, at least for me (co-cupper Jason Sarley had some reservations), is the Per’la Ethiopia Durato Bombe, at 95. There has been a reaction against “fruit bomb” naturals recently among some coffee insiders, and I suppose this coffee might be similarly dissed, although it does not particularly fit the lush fruit-and-brandy stereotype evoked by the term. Exceptionally light-roasted, and skillfully so, this is less a fruit bomb than a flowers-and-cocoa bomb, with massively complex aromatics emerging from a juicy, sweet-savory structure. Paul Massard, co-founder and managing partner at Per’la, told me that the previous season this coffee had proven so popular among his customers that this year he bought enough to offer it continuously over the past seven months. 

The Economics of the Everyday Yet Exceptional Bean

As one might expect in regard to larger lots of coffees aimed at satisfying a broad range of customers, the average retail price for the coffees reviewed this month is a reasonable one: US$1.59 per dry ounce, or around $19 for a 12-ounce bag. This is typical for many of the coffees we rate in the 92-94 range at Coffee Review. On the other hand, typical prices for very high-rated coffees, often microlots processed using exotic techniques and/or produced from rare tree varieties, average significantly higher. Coffees scoring 95-96 in our Top 30 for 2021 averaged a rather daunting $11.60 per ounce, while those rated 92-94 averaged $1.48 per ounce, close to figure for this month’s reviewed coffees. Moving in the other direction, contrast that price with the retail price of a full-on commodity whole-bean coffee, in this case Eight O’Clock Coffee: The Original, which cost $0.52 per ounce when purchased on Amazon a couple of months ago. Or moving up the quality chain from there, the Dunkin’ Donuts Original Blend cost $1.09 per ounce, or about the price of the least expensive of the specialty single-origins we review this month, the Cup to Cup Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Kochere.  

So, are the everyday single-origin coffees we review this month simply high-end commodity coffees sold through a relatively anonymous supply chain, and dressed up with fancy names? Based on the 10 samples we researched and reviewed this month, the answer is no. These ten coffees would seem to have passed through a system from farmer through exporter/importer to roaster to consumer that is relatively clear and traceable. We know, for example, that the highest rated Per’la Ethiopia Durato Bombe was collected from 626 farmers in Durato Bombe Kebele village in the Bensa District of the Sidama Zone, with the processing performed at the nearby Qunqna mill. This coffee was exported by Daye Bensa Coffee, the owner of the mill. But were those 626 farmers, many of whom probably also work at the mill, compensated fairly for the fresh coffee fruit they brought in to make up this splendid lot? Most likely yes, but confirmation is difficult at this distance. 

In fact, exactly what might constitute a fair “farmgate” price (the price farmers should actually receive for their coffee once the many, many additional costs required to transform coffee into beans and transport the beans to the port have been deducted), is difficult, perhaps impossible to determine with any confidence. Take a look at the article in the industry newsletter Perfect Daily Grind titled Green Coffee Pricing Transparency is Critical and Complicated for a sense of how important, yet how bafflingly complex, the fair farmgate coffee pricing question is. 

I would conclude with two rather irresponsible, half-supported conclusions. 1) Most likely the producers (both small-holding farmers and workers on larger farms) of the moderately priced, traceable specialty coffees reviewed here are not being brutally exploited like the producers of many anonymous commodity coffees. 2) Nevertheless, they should be paid better for their work, and we should be prepared to pay more for the familiar yet exceptional coffees they produce.

Thanks To:

All of those roaster correspondents who greatly enriched this report by sharing their ideas and experience regarding everyday coffees with me: Derek Anderson, Carrie Chang, Evelyn Chiang, Jay Gestwicki, Tony Greatorex of Red Rooster Coffee, Paul Massard, Ian Picco, Mark Shi of MK Coffee Roasters, James Spano and Ben Storest.

The post Everyday Single-Origin Coffees: At the Intersection of the Familiar and the Exceptional appeared first on Coffee Review.

Mill devoted to smaller-lot specialty coffees at Ipanema Farms in the Sul de Minas growing region, Brazil. Courtesy of Ipanema Farms.

When I first opened a specialty café in Berkeley, California 40 years ago, a Brazil always appeared among the standard whole-bean coffee offerings in the 10 or so glass-fronted bins that held our whole-bean coffees. All of the popular and glamorous coffee origins of the time were there: Guatemala Antigua, Kenya AA, Costa Rica Tarrazu, Sumatra Mandheling, Colombia Supremo, and the new, game-changing Ethiopia Yirgacheffe. Brazil Santos, as we liked to call it (all of these origins had to sport at least one secondary qualifying name), was usually down at the end of the row, largely looked past when customers ordered a pound of Kenya or Guatemala.

But some customers did buy Brazils. I remember one particularly coffee-savvy young employee who skillfully worked our Gaggia two-group piston espresso machine, declaring, a little defensively, that Brazil was his favorite origin. He said he liked its low-key balance and its nut, spice and chocolate notes. He found the other more glamorous origins we carried too bright, too one-sided, too insistent.

But there were only a few like him back then, and today, it looks like there are even fewer. In fact, it appears, from this month’s low turnout of Brazil submissions from North American specialty roasters, that Brazil, by far the world’s largest producer of coffee, is one of the tiniest when it comes to upmarket specialty lists of American roasters.

We received only around 30 samples for this report, as opposed to the 60 or more we usually receive for surveys of other origins. But the real shock was the low turnout from North American roasters. Only seven American-roasted Brazil samples showed up! The other 24 were roasted by Asian companies, all based in Taiwan.

Don’t blame the coffees themselves. The 30 samples we tested averaged around 89 on the Coffee Review scale, an excellent showing. And we ran into no coffees at all displaying composty flavors or medicinal hints, for example, two failings of poorer quality coffees everywhere. These were mostly solid, drinkable coffees whose main failing was simplicity or a kind of aromatic laziness.

But if we move from the also-rans to the very best of this month’s Brazils, we encounter some very, very fine samples. Before discussing how and why they are exceptional, I need to back into a brief account of the history and character of the classic Brazil cup.

The Backbone of Specialty: Brazil Naturals

This cup is seldom bright or acidy — credit moderate-to-low growing elevations. It is usually produced from quite respected tree varieties, with pleasing balance and subtle fruit, but without the aromatic fireworks of Ethiopia-derived material like Geisha/Gesha, for example. It is natural-processed, meaning the coffee fruit is simply picked (often by machine) then spread to dry on patios.

The typical outcome is a coffee with pleasing mouthfeel, a structure usually round and low in acidity, with fruit leaning toward chocolate and nut rather than citrus and flowers.

Raking pulped-natural process coffee in the Cerrado Miniero region of Brazil. Courtesy of Kenneth Davids.

None of that sounds particularly exciting, does it? This relatively drab story and satisfying but low-drama cup are probably the reasons why so few roasters sent us Brazil samples. They don’t look for great Brazils, so, presumably, they don’t find them, and if they don’t find them, then their customers won’t, either. The roasters look for Brazils to fill out the middle of blends and harmonize more assertive coffees, not something to stand by itself making its own case. “I think U.S. roasters overlook Brazils far too easily when looking for something ‘unique’ and ‘exciting,’ something to ‘push the industry forward,’” says David Pittman of Peach Coffee Roasters.

Pushing (Or at Least Nudging) the Industry Forward

But some Brazil producers are aiming to “push the industry forward,” as it turns out. And some roasters have begun to take them up on it. Of the eight top-rated coffees that fill out this month’s reviews, five play subtle but decisive variations on Brazil natural processing that expand the style in ways both distinctive and delicious. Two others among the eight represent Brazil’s special gift to processing method, the pulped natural. Only one embodies the tradition of the classic Brazil natural, although it embodies it particularly well.

In the natural process, of course, the beans or seeds remain encased inside the entire fruit all the way from picking to drying. However, with five of the samples we tested for this report, the whole fruit was subject to an unorthodox fermentation step before being spread to dry.

Whole-Fruit Fermentation as Sensory Game-Changer

Fermentation, of course, has long been a key step in traditional wet-processing, where it is used to soften sticky fruit flesh so it can be more easily “washed” off the beans. But with this month’s unorthodox Brazils, fermentation was applied to the coffee in the whole fruit as a clear attempt to enhance final cup character and originality, rather than simply facilitate a mechanical process.

I’m thinking that a plausible name for this processing variation might be “enhanced natural.” Among other benefits, the fermentation step may slow down drying, thereby intensifying the development of fruit and sweetness and avoiding the too-rapid drying of the fruit that, in traditional natural Brazils, may turn fruit notes prune-like and promote a dry, woody cup.

The exact nature of the fermentation step varies in all five of these “enhanced naturals.” In the case of the top-rated Kakalove Café Fazenda Samambaia Natural Fermentation Arara (95), the fruit was fermented in (apparently open-topped) barrels for four days before the usual drying on raised beds. This ferment was a bit longer than in the case of some other samples we tested and seems to simultaneously encourage great sweetness and savory-edged depth, plus add an intrigue of grappa-like spirits.

The fermentation step also lasted around four days for the deeply sweet yet resonantly bright Euphora Coffee Ipanema Premier Cru Gold A49 Cherry (93), but in this case, the ferment was anaerobic (carried out in sealed, rather than open, tanks). So here, rather than a tickle of spirits produced by a light hint of alcohol-inducing aerobic fermentation, as in the Kakalove Samambaia, we experience a deep, sweet tanginess, brisk and bracingly bitter-edged. With the Spix’s Café Brazil Red Catuaí Double-Anaerobic (93), the ferment was also anaerobic, netting another deep yet delicately bright/tart coffee, saturated by a distinct dark chocolate with a cherry and floral edge.

The CafeTaster Mogiana Aparecid Farm (93) was apparently only lightly fermented before drying, netting a delicate yet deep profile: cocoa, blood orange, flowers.

An American “Enhanced Natural” Candidate and Two Pulped Naturals

Finally, the one American-roasted entry in what I am calling the enhanced natural category, Peach Coffee Roasters Sitio Ponte Fazenda Ponte (93), was also subject to only a short spell of controlled dry fermentation before being spread on the terraces. I found it a particularly satisfying cup, however, a Brazil natural driven by the caramel, apple and almond typical of the style, yet gently saturated with flowers, all supported by a particularly fragrant cedar.

Natural process coffee drying on a raised bed at Sitio Taquara farm, Campestre, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Pictured with Edimara Bernardes, the daughter of the producer. Courtesy of Demilson Batista Jr.

Two of the eight reviewed Brazils were not naturals at all, strictly speaking, but processed by the method Brazilians call pulped natural, a procedure that the rest of the world has come to know as honey-processing. Brazilians pioneered the method, although their rather technical name for it has stayed at home. In the Brazil version, only the skins are removed from the coffee fruit, and the beans, still covered in their sticky fruit flesh, are put out to dry directly on patios. They need to be raked rigorously at first, or the beans are likely to clump and mold. Done right, Brazil pulped naturals typically produce a sort of natural-lite cup; more delicate than most naturals, a bit brighter and lighter, more floral. The result can be a svelte, balanced Brail cup, clean and quietly layered, like the Willoughby’s Brazil Legender Sitio Taquara Natural (92). But the method also can encourage more distinctive profiles, like the Mostra Coffee Sitio Pedra Menina (93), here gently tart and fragrant with floral and herb nuance.

And a Last No-Frills Natural

Finally, we did have one straightforward Brazil-style natural among the eight top-rated samples — in other words, a coffee dried in the whole fruit straight through without any ferment step or processing variations. The simplicity of means seems reflected in the pleasing directness and grace of the Brazil Natural Veloso Estate from Taiwanese roaster Min Enjoy Café (93). “A quietly transcendent Brazil natural cup, harmonious and integrated,” co-cupper Kim Westerman writes.

Tree Variety and Brazil

Tree variety, along with processing method the other main driver of change and excitement in specialty coffee today, did not seem to figure prominently among the Brazils we surveyed. Brazil has tended to stick with tree varieties that are productive and respected for their cup character but not particularly celebrated for their distinctiveness. So, on one hand, no extravagant Geishas or other exotic Ethiopia escapees, but, on the other, no varieties heavily dumbed down with Robusta genes either. The variety most frequently appearing among this month’s samples is Catuaí, a cross between Caturra (the widely-grown, compact-growing selection of Bourbon) and Mondo Novo, itself a cross between Typica and Red Bourbon. My experience suggests Catuaí can be depended upon to produce a complete, lively, well-structured cup, though usually not a particularly distinctive one.

The Brazil “Aha” Moment

So, ok, Brazils may not rattle your saucers with shock and aromatic excitement, but they do have their supporters among those roasters who submitted this month. Several cited a specific “aha” Brazil moment, a Brazil coffee that challenged expectation. David Hsiao at Min Enjoy Café offers customers blind tastings, and when he included this month’s classic Brazil natural his customers were quite impressed. “Someone guessed it was Colombia, someone said Panama, someone guessed Costa Rica,” he reports. “When the hole card was revealed, every customer showed a surprised expression and said, ‘Is this really coffee from Brazil?’ They couldn’t believe it was so delicious!” Other roasters offered similar stories about specific coffees that challenged customers’ expectations about Brazil.

Warehouse of a coffee mill in Alfenas, Minas Gerais State, Brazil.

On the other hand, some roasters expressed appreciation for the very reliability of Brazils, for their familiarity and their capacity to satisfy a wide range of tastes. David Pittman of Peach Coffee Roasters sees Brazils as a “gateway to the non-specialty coffee drinker,” and adds that “this is the customer we at Peach are trying to reach.” Ryan Sullivan of Mostra Coffee describes the importance of Brazils in first establishing his roasting company in a geography new to specialty coffee, and how important Brazils have remained. “Brazil is always in the top five best-selling coffees and, as a single-origin, Brazil is our top-selling coffee over the course of the year. We would be a different company without Brazil to offer, and I don’t think our clientele would be too happy with us!”

Familiar Yet Fresh

Finally, the appeal for me of many of this month’s top-rated Brazils, particularly those I am calling “enhanced naturals,” is the way that they both support yet transcend our expectations. In drinking them, we may enjoy many of the satisfactions of a fine Brazil natural — the balance, the coherence, the fine mouthfeel, the rounded acidity and quietly complete range of aromatics (and yes, the cocoa and nut) — but along with that, we may find, owing to the care of the producer and thoughtful processing variation, a certain edge of originality, some twist or nuance capable of breaking through our work or reverie, reminding us that we are drinking a specific coffee, at a specific moment — and at that moment, something special, however transitory, is passing between us and the cup.

Special Thanks

To Caesar Tu, David Pittman, David Hsiao, May Wang, and Ryan Sullivan for contributing immeasurably to this report by sharing their attitudes and their customers’ attitudes toward Brazil coffees.

The post Brazil Naturals: Tradition and Innovation appeared first on Coffee Review.

Kenneth Davids in the Coffee Review lab circa 2007.

Coffee Review has been reviewing coffees and reporting in depth on the world of specialty coffee since 1997, making this our 25^th year of slurping, spitting and writing. Over those 25 years, we have published reviews of thousands of coffees, tasted tens of thousands more, and produced more than 250 in-depth monthly reports on coffee growing regions, processing methods, tree varieties, and roaster issues. We were the first in the world to apply 100-point ratings to coffees (in 1997) and the first online publication to offer serious in-depth coffee reviewing and reporting. (During our early years most roasters hadn’t developed websites; we published phone numbers). You can find an account of our founding years here.

What in coffee has changed over these 25 years, particularly as seen from the perspective of our cupping table? What has not changed?

Our basic method — blind testing coffees using formal professional protocols — has not changed. Nor has our aspiration to report on what we taste as honestly as we can, with as little influence as possible from fashion and ideology. And our larger mission has remained the same as well: raising awareness of coffee as a specialty beverage worthy of connoisseurship, while elevating the status and wellbeing of those who work in coffee, particularly those who grow it.

So, what has changed? In the larger specialty coffee world, it would seem, almost everything. Our engagement with a few of those changes, and occasionally our struggles with them, is sketched out in what follows.

From Predictable Classics to Challenging Experiments

When we surveyed El Salvador coffees in 1997, in one of our very first reports, all of the coffees available for review were washed or wet-processed coffees of the general style then associated not only with El Salvador, but with the world of fine coffee generally.

Washing channel at a wet mill in Antigua, Guatemala.

We were able to evaluate those El Salvadors in the light of general, widely shared criteria for washed coffees while acknowledging certain subtle expectations particularly associated with El Salvador. Fine washed coffee, in which the fruit is removed from the bean in careful stages soon after picking and before drying, aims to project the purity of that coffee without influence from the steps involved in fruit removal. Any impacts on taste caused by these acts of fruit removal and drying, collectively called processing, were likely to be branded in 1997 as taints or faults. These taints and faults were taken as failures to achieve what the coffee world then defined as “quality,” which meant, essentially, consistency and predictability.

The Fading Connection Between Origin and Cup Character

Those who follow coffee know what happened next. The connection between origin — growing country and region — and how one expects a coffee to taste began to break down as producers turned away from the traditional in processing method and tree variety to the new and different. Two decades after our first 1997 report on El Salvador, for example, in a 2019 tasting report, only 35% — about one-third — of the El Salvador coffees we cupped were classic washed coffees of the style once solidly associated with that country. Of the remaining samples, 39% were natural-processed coffees (dried in the fruit) and 26% were honey-processed  (dried in part of the fruit), both methods that encourage subtle to dramatic differences in cup character from coffees produced by the washed method. Many of the natural-processed coffees we cupped in 2019, even the better ones, probably would have been branded as “tainted” by green coffee buyers in 1997.

Honey-processed drying at Finca Las Mercedes, El Salvador. Courtesy of Jason Sarley.

Balancing Innovation and Tradition

Consequently, one of the great challenges of reviewing coffees in recent years is finding ways to honor the traditional in coffee while simultaneously honoring innovation and experiment, particularly with regard to how a range of  processing methods influence the cup. And, of course, communicating these new and different expectations to readers.

Fortunately, we had some practice at such flexibility early on, because even in 1997, certain coffee types that many coffee drinkers enjoyed deviated from the classic washed norm. Sumatra coffees, for example, traditionally displayed a musty-fermenty character often glamorized by the term “earthy,” a cup fault that, in 1997, would get an El Salvador coffee thrown off the cupping table. Yet, many coffee drinkers loved Sumatras. We resolved this contradiction by rewarding Sumatras in which the earth notes were basically fresh, like just-turned humus, for example, or wet fallen leaves, while punishing those that displayed a sharp, damp-basement mustiness.

We achieved a similar, though sometimes more precarious, solution for “natural” or dried-in-the-fruit coffees that showed suggestions of fruit ferment — in those days, usually coffees from Yemen or eastern Ethiopia. Here, we looked (and still look) for fruit that displayed what we came to call “clean” ferment: sweet, wine-like or brandy-like ferment tones, free of excessive bitterness or compost notes.

The New Anaerobic Challenge

Nevertheless, none of such parsing and balancing quite prepared us for the first samples of coffee we received several years ago that had been subject to versions of what is often called anaerobic processing or carbonic maceration. These early anaerobic samples tended to come across as exuberant, unapologetic exercises in creative taint. Anaerobic innovators have managed to quiet down some of the most challenging of these taste characteristics while maintaining the originality, complexity and fruit encouraged by the method. And we have done our best to work the more extreme anaerobic samples into our reviewing system in a way that will point coffee adventurers toward their twisty, fragrant surprises while warning off purists and indirectly suggesting they might be happier with, say, a nice conventionally washed El Salvador.

Anaerobically processed coffee cherries drying in the whole fruit at Elida Estate in Panama. Courtesy of Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea.

A Shift from Innovation at the Consuming End to Innovation at Origin

Before going on to a subject that has consumed us the most over the years — how to apply a 100-point rating system to coffees that express themselves so differently (not to mention the challenges and puzzles of how to rate coffees in the first place) — we need to recognize an often-overlooked aspect of the latest storm of experiment by coffee producers.

Until very recently, most product innovation in coffee happened in consuming countries, not in producing countries. Farmers were relegated to producing predictable “quality” versions of familiar coffee types associated with their respective regions. A good Costa Rica was expected to taste like a good Costa Rica, for example, or a good Kenya like a good Kenya.

Trends in product differentiation, in those days, were carried out primarily by roasters and retailers. The popularity of espresso and its beverage spin-offs, for example, irrevocably changed the coffee world, though not particularly to the advantage of producers. The same could be said for the current popularity of cold brew.

Dark-Roasting as Consumer-End Product Differentiator

And, of course, the practice of dark-roasting all coffees, regardless of style or origin, can also be seen as a product differentiation move carried out on the consuming end of the supply chain. In, say, 2000, how could roasters demonstrate to coffee-naïve, inexperienced consumers that “specialty” coffees tasted dramatically different from coffees sold in supermarkets or the corner diner? These specialty roasters bought far better green coffees, of course, but a surer solution was to dramatize the difference by roasting all their coffees dark, no matter where they came from. And it wasn’t only Peet’s and Starbucks that dark-roasted everything around 2000. So did scores of smaller roasting companies.

Darker roasted coffee bean samples. In around 2000 most specialty coffees were sold dark roasted.

When we founded Coffee Review we often needed to search for medium to medium-dark coffees that gave us something to write about, that provided a level of differentiation that exceeded the distinctions in style or darkness of roast that dominated the specialty marketplace. Over the years, we have done our best to identify what we feel are the best dark-roasted coffees, the coffees that celebrate both the character of the green coffee and the chocolaty, bittersweet appeal of a darker roast, although that, too has been a bit of a challenge when it gets to assigning ratings.

The roast pendulum has swung back the other way, of course, first gradually, then decisively. The change from selling coffee primarily on the basis of different roast style to focusing on the sensory surprises the bean itself brings to the cup was, I believe, what ultimately liberated the current wave of creativity and experiment among coffee producers. With subtle differences highlighted by coffee-first, lighter roast styles, and success rewarded by well-publicized high scores in green coffee competitions (and, in some cases, high ratings at Coffee Review), many small and medium-scaled coffee producers rapidly evolved from anonymous producers of premium coffees sold by grade into market-savvy, innovating boutique coffee producers, taking risks growing Geisha and other distinctive-tasting, low-volume varieties while experimenting, sometimes radically, with altering the cup through processing method.

Too Many Coddled Microlots?

This shift has its critics, however, and along the way has caused some soul-searching at Coffee Review. To what degree have our reviews encouraged a market for tiny, coddled microlots of highly differentiated coffees sold for big bucks while potentially discouraging high-quality versions of classic styles of coffee sold in larger volumes at reasonable but affordable prices? To help compensate, we have focused some our recent reports on traditional coffee types. But, on the other hand, we are dedicated to describing and rating coffees based on what we taste, not what we think we ought to taste. This commitment means that if we get a microlot sample with an original, astounding cup, we need to reward and honor it even if it sells at what seems an outrageous price. By the same token, we need to resist any temptation to flatter the producer and roaster by assigning a high score to a coffee based simply on a prestigious name or extravagant price.

And Yes, Those Ratings

The practice of assigning 100-point ratings to coffees has become so common since we debuted the practice in 1997 that, today, the coffee world hardly seems to notice the problematics of applying a language (numbers) that suggests certainty and science to the complex, subjective experience of a beverage. (I describe our broad thinking on this issue at How Coffee Review Works and The 100-point Rating Paradox.

What has changed over 25 years at Coffee Review with regard to ratings? Well, to state the obvious, the ratings have definitely gotten higher.

Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea founders Barry Levine and Bob Williams featured in the New Haven Register newspaper in 1995, two years before Coffee Review launched online. Courtesy of Barry Levine.

It’s true that back in 1997, we awarded a 93 to an apparently splendid Kenya from Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea, though there were a lot more lowball scores back then, far more than we publish today. Willoughby’s, founded in 1985 by Bob Williams and Barry Levine, placed two coffees in that first 1997 Africa coffees report, the 93-point Kenya and an Ethiopia Yirgacheffe we rated 90. Willoughby’s continues to offer a Kenya and an Ethiopia, both in the same basic washed coffee style as those two samples we tested in 1997 (though now sourced from specific cooperatives and roasted considerably lighter than the 1997 samples). Nevertheless, when we tested the 2021 samples blind, both came off the table only one point higher than the versions Willoughby’s sold in 1997. My co-cupper Kim Westerman and I both had the (splendid) Kenya at 94. Kim initially had the Yirgacheffe at 93 and I had it at 90; we compromised at 91. These results are tributes to the steadiness of the Willoughby’s coffee team, as well as to the unusual consistency over the decades of the best Kenya and Ethiopia washed coffee types. But I also hope it suggests that we at Coffee Review have been consistent, as well.

Better Coffees and More of Them

The main reason for today’s generally higher ratings is better coffees, and more of them. We only publish reviews of about one third of the total samples we test, so obviously, the more coffees we test the higher the average scores. And, as noted earlier, most specialty coffees we tested before about 2000 came from large lots described with relatively generic language, often simply the name of the growing country and, at most, one qualifier: Kenya AA, Colombia Supremo, Guatemala Antigua, etc. Tree variety was largely ignored and processing method taken for granted.

This label from San Diego’s Bird Rock Coffee Roasters suggests the selectivity and the emphasis on variety and processing method typical of contemporary small-lot specialty coffee.

But today, most of the coffee lots we review are small, highly selected and clearly differentiated by both tree variety and processing method. Such precise focus usually (though not always) nets higher scores than coffees from less-differentiated, larger lots. For example, the Geisha variety of Arabica, now famous for its startlingly distinctive cup, first showed up in Coffee Review in one review in 2005. Last year, in 2021, we reviewed nearly 60 Geishas, over 10% of all reviews we published for the year.

Yet, fine Geishas processed by the orthodox washed method are relatively easy to appreciate and describe. Their original, sometimes surprising aromatics are pleasing to most coffee drinkers and come enveloped in a familiar, seductive structure: balanced, sweetly bright, satiny to syrupy in mouthfeel.

On the other hand, some of the latest, most unorthodox trends in experimental processing are considerably more challenging in the cup and have mightily tested our rating system. Faced with a coffee expressing a particularly extravagant version of hybrid processing using anaerobic ferment, we often remark that some coffee drinkers will find the sample a 96 while others might rate it 76 (if they keep it in their mouths long enough to actually taste it). But we don’t give split grades, so we either battle through to consensus on a rating on a controversial coffee, or give up and average, splitting the difference between one cupper’s very high score and another’s perhaps middling score.

Specialty Gone Global

We have seen specialty coffee as concept and practice spread far beyond the U.S. and a handful of other regional hotspots during our 25 years of publication. Our many reviews of coffees roasted in Asia, particularly Taiwan, reflect this worldwide trend. In the U.S., we have recognized and celebrated the spread of fine specialty coffee to virtually every part of the country. Our reviews reflect that growing geographic diversity, as do our frequent reports on roasters by region.

Low Green Coffee Prices and Poverty in Coffee Lands

For our entire 25 years, we have lamented the destructive toll of unremittingly low green coffee prices on coffee distinction, on the environment, and on the wellbeing of smallholding farmers. Currently, coffee prices paid producers have jumped, mainly owing to reduced supply caused by a drought and freeze in world-leading coffee producer Brazil, secondarily to the global pandemic. Unfortunately, this mainly weather-driven spell of higher prices is doubtless another chapter in coffee’s history of booms and busts. Encouraged by today’s higher prices, producers will plant more coffee, and inevitably, four or so years from now, when those newly planted trees mature, coffee prices will head back down again to unsustainable levels and stay there until another major crop failure temporarily gooses the market back up.

The only long-term solutions to the boom-bust cycle in coffee are either the revival of a cartel designed to stabilize prices through control of supply like the one created by the International Coffee Agreements in 1962 through 1972 (a very unlikely scenario), or a gradual elevation of coffee to the status of genuine specialty beverage. We are in favor of both solutions, but we can only help, in a small way, with the second.

Some observers speculate that the current jump in price for all green coffees will discourage production of the highly selected and differentiated small lots of coffee that appear so frequently in our reviews. The theory runs that producers will be content to sell larger lots of ordinary coffee at decent prices and forgo the hassles involved in producing small, selected lots of distinctive coffee.

I do not think this will happen on any major scale. I expect that leading producers and exporters will gratefully take the latest long-deserved price increases for their fine yet less exceptional coffees, while continuing to swing for the fences with prestigious, differentiated small lots that will make and maintain their names, brands and reputations.

Gender, Race and Global Warming

We have reported on many other themes and issues through the years, including gender in coffee and race in U.S. coffee.

Hovering in and over everything, however, is global warming and the plague of coffee-influencing disasters it has set off or exacerbated: the Latin American coffee rust epidemic starting in 2010, entire coffee industries in Malawi and Zambia destroyed by drought, Caribbean coffee industries crippled by an increase in hurricanes and tropical storms, exceptional new weather patterns everywhere, and the pressure to grow coffees at higher and higher elevations to offset warmer temperatures.

Among the more heartening developments in response to global warming are recent efforts by World Coffee Research (WCR) and other coffee agencies to produce disease-resistant hybrid varieties of Arabica that are both disease-resistant and distinctive in the cup. Not too long ago, cup character usually appeared to be an afterthought among agronomy-minded scientists busy developing new disease-resistant coffee varieties. What has changed their minds, of course, is the success of varieties like Geisha in attracting much higher prices in the marketplace and, generally, the growth of a market in which cup distinction is rewarded by higher (sometimes much higher) prices. In the next two years, we hope that enough coffees produced from the newly developed F-1 varieties (touted as disease-resistant and distinctive in the cup) will be available on the retail market for Coffee Review to mount a tasting report focused on them.

Stay healthy and stay tuned as we embark on a 26^th year of publication that doubtless will be crowded with innovation, with challenge, and, of course, with some very fine and surprising coffees.

The post The World and the Cupping Table: 25 Years of Change at Coffee Review appeared first on Coffee Review.

Our mission always has been to help consumers identify and purchase superior quality coffees. But purchasing superior quality coffee beans won’t guarantee a superior quality coffee experience if poorly prepared with inferior equipment. So it’s not surprising that we frequently receive requests from readers for reviews of coffee equipment. In our most recent reader survey, 88% of respondents were either very interested or moderately interested in having Coffee Review publish equipment reviews.

We listened. Based on your comments, the Coffee Review editorial team, with the help of frequent contributor Howard Bryman, will selectively test equipment and provide reviews and reports that will help consumers enjoy superior quality brewed coffee. The first of this new series of reports, Digital Electric Gooseneck Pourover Kettles, appears this month. For a look at report topics planned for later this year, see our 2020 Editorial Calendar.

How Are Our Reviews Different?

Although useful reviews of coffee equipment regularly appear online, few are conducted with the care and independence that we will bring to ours. Many online equipment reviews are simply summaries or aggregations of consumer reviews. Others are informative but uncritical overviews by equipment sellers. But at Coffee Review every piece of equipment we review will have been worked with and used, run through relevant instrument-based testing procedures, and, when relevant, sensory testing of output by the experienced Coffee Review tasting panel.

Given the extent of our testing and the thoroughness of our reviews, we can only review a limited number of models in a given product category, in most cases three to five. We will choose those we do review on the basis of their popularity, or, if they are new to the market, the credibility/track record of their manufacturers. We may mention other products in a category in our report introductions.

Those Affiliate Links

Most review sites include affiliate links that provide a modest commission to the reviewer for purchases made by shoppers at affiliated retail websites such as Amazon.  After flirting with such affiliate links in equipment reports and equipment reviews on CoffeeReview.com, we’ve decided to forgo them.  For us, it’s just the right thing to do.

We Receive No Affiliate Commissions for Coffees We Review

As always, Coffee Review does not collect affiliate commission for sale of coffees we review. We support our detailed and influential coffee reviews and reports through other revenue streams, including advertising and a soon-to-be introduced optional membership program for readers.

The post New Series of Equipment Reports appeared first on Coffee Review.