I chose to purchase this coffee at the same time that I ordered Taylors of Harrogate’s Tim Peaks Coffee. As I noted in my other review, Taylors of Harrogate sells their coffee in smaller bags than standard in the US (their bags are 120 grams in size, which is a bit over 4 ounces), so depending on how much coffee you drink, you may want to consider buying multiple bags at a time. However, their 120-gram sized bag was the perfect size for my coffee testing.
Whole bean: Fresh, clean aroma. These beans are very lightly roasted.
V60: I brewed this cup for 3:20 and it had an aroma filled with natural sweetness. It smelled as sweet as really ripe fruit – almost like candy, but without smelling artificial in any way. The flavor was was tea-like with subtle and delicate notes of lychee.
AeroPress: While the Hario V60 cup was reminiscent in taste and texture of tea, this cup out of the AeroPress definitely tasted like a coffee. It had a thicker mouthfeel, though the flavors are still on the subtle side. This tasted of black grape with a dry white wine-esque finish.
Chemex: Similar to the V60 cup but even sweeter and lighter.
French press: Creamy texture, but the flavor seemed very muted. I had poured a bit of coffee from my press after 4 minutes for this tasting, but I wasn’t happy with the relative lack of flavor so I kept steeping. After 6 minutes there was a bit more flavor but it was still not enough for my taste. I was afraid that if I left it much longer, it would extract objectionable notes from the beans, so I gave up after 6 minutes.
Summary: I enjoyed this coffee most in the pourover methods (Hario V60 and Chemex). It is a coffee on the subtler side, one that whispers rather than shouts, but eminently enjoyable to linger over when you have a leisurely morning.
From the roaster: White grape, lychee, passionfruit
This coffee is only available for shipping to UK addresses; Taylors of Harrogate roasts once a week on Tuesdays.
Taylors of Harrogate Ecuador New Wave
Review conducted 12 days post-roast.