Whenever I come across a roaster whom I’m not familiar with, I like looking at the “About” section of their website to get an idea of what makes them tick. Kuma Coffee’s story is interesting to me, as the founder is the son of American missionaries that moved to Kenya when he was a child. During that time in Kenya, he got to know and love African coffee. After moving back to the United States and working as a barista in Seattle for a number of years, he decided to start roasting as a hobby, which morphed into the business it is today.
I suppose it’s too bad I couldn’t try a Kenyan coffee from this roaster, since it sounds like that’s where the journey all started. Maybe next time!
Whole bean: Light tea-like fragrance with orange peel. Once ground, it smelled like cocoa powder with some citrus notes.
French press: This had a delicate aroma that was very inviting – it gently cajoles you into taking a sip! Cream/butter texture with a nice sweetness. It had a bit of orange flavor that wasn’t tart at all. The aftertaste was much like a refreshing white wine.
Chemex: The coffee mostly smelled like tea and the paper filter it passed through. I first wrote down “cardboard,” but realized after a few seconds that it was more “paper bag.” This was even considering I had rinsed the filter thoroughly. I have heard that bleached filters impart less of a papery taste than unbleached filters (which is what I currently use), so the next time I need to get filters, I’ll buy a pack of bleached ones to see if this claim is true. I haven’t been bothered by a “papery” taste in the past but in the last week or so, I’ve started noticing this more, so perhaps I’m getting sensitive to the odor/taste.
Back to the coffee! The brew made my mouth pucker, like I was eating tart grapes. The sweetness was definitely less pronounced in this cup vs. the french press cup.
AeroPress: I brewed this as a concentrate and then added water to cut the tart intensity a bit. Once I did that, sweet citrus flavors emerged. This cup rivals the french press cup in body, even through the AeroPress filter. It was slightly less flavorful though, probably due to the lower extraction time. The bags of Craft Coffee that I get come in 4 oz sizes, which leaves me JUST enough to do one round of tastings. If I had more of these beans, I would try this in the inverted method to let the beans steep longer.
V60: Light body with a dry finish. Less fruit and sweetness in this cup vs. the other methods.
Summary: Like other Guatemalan coffees I’ve had in the past, this was a light and citrusy cup. The French press method imparted the most flavor and body to this coffee, which I liked. I would also be curious about how this coffee would do in the inverted method in the AeroPress, as I think it would result in the best of both worlds – a nice clean, sludge-free cup with bright, interesting flavors.
From the roaster: Blood orange, pomelo, chocolate, green grape