Coffees from Ethiopia, and specifically from the Yirgacheffe region, have been a go-to for me for years, so I was interested to see what these beans via Heart had to offer.
Whole beans: Subtle and sweet aroma of berries and gentle florals. On a scale of 1-10 in terms of how fragrant the beans were, I’d say about a 3? I waited for a bit over 4 weeks to break into this bag based on my last bag from Heart, but my coffee experience did still seem kind of muted, which did carry over into the drinking phase.
French press: Rich body, but there wasn’t much evidence of the berry/floral notes I smelled in the beans (whole and ground). There was a bit of acidity and juiciness on the finish which seemed more pronounced after I tasted these beans in the other methods. This overall was my favorite cup from this tasting, just because I thought it had the most flavor.
Chemex: More muted, less bright and lively than the French press cup. Not very interesting, if I’m honest. I was disappointed, as I’m used to coffees from Ethiopia being layered and complex.
Hario V60: This was slightly better and more florally fragrant than the Chemex cup, but there was still little to no acidity or brightness in this brewed coffee. It’s my second-favorite brewing method for these beans, but a distant second.
Clever Dripper: Worst of the lot – when I raised this coffee to my mouth, the smell was exactly like the smell of the steam function of an iron. ?? It didn’t smell bad, exactly, but clean laundry isn’t exactly what I was hoping for! There was virtually no flavor in the coffee either – I might have to troubleshoot and overhaul my Clever Dripper brewing technique because it’s the second time in recent weeks that I’ve tried a new coffee in it and been seriously underwhelmed with the lack of flavor in the brew.
Summary: Not a bad coffee, but not something I got super excited about either. Everything seemed curiously flat and relatively flavorless. Based on my tasting of the Heart Ethiopia Mullugeta Muntasha, I thought that doing a tasting 4 weeks post-roast would be better than doing one earlier. However, I still don’t feel like I’ve unlocked the flavor potential in these beans. Perhaps I waited too long? The French press cup was the best of the lot, tasting a little like a lavender lemonade, but overall this bag wasn’t something I’d go out of my way to purchase again.
From the roaster: raspberry, white grape, rose
This coffee is no longer available on Heart’s website but here is a link to their online store.
Review conducted 33 days post-roast.
Glad to see you are still doing these!