{"id":5668,"date":"2019-04-23T16:56:28","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T21:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=5668"},"modified":"2019-04-23T16:56:33","modified_gmt":"2019-04-23T21:56:33","slug":"review-sparrow-coffee-ethiopia-guji-chicago-illinois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=5668","title":{"rendered":"Review: Sparrow Coffee Ethiopia Guji (Chicago, Illinois)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I can’t even remember now how Sparrow Coffee got on my radar, but they were the one Chicago-based roaster for whom I was willing to go out of my way in order to buy their beans. I even scheduled my Friday flight to arrive in enough time that I could get to their roastery before 5:00 pm, since they’re closed on the weekends. I arrived at the roastery around 3:20 pm that day and the staff told me that they actually closed at 3:00 pm (which was different than what the website stated!), but they kindly agreed to sell me a couple of bags anyway once I explained that I had come from so far. They were out of their normal bags, so they knocked up some handwritten bags for me with the vital information: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sparrow Coffee is mainly known as a wholesaler with notoriously picky standards about who they will partner with<\/a>; 3\/4 of the Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago are clients. They make a custom blend of coffee for every establishment, in order to perfectly complement the food there. But, at their roastery and at their cafe location in Naperville<\/a>, you can pick up single-origin coffees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whole bean: Sweet, buttery, fruity\/berry aromas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French press: Compared to other Ethiopia Gujis I’ve had in the past, this was an exceptionally well-balanced cup. I’m accustomed to Gujis being very fruit-forward and bright with strong berry notes and a lot of sweetness. This cup was more subdued but full of blackberry and toffee sweetness, with a really juicy mouth-watering finish. Nice medium body to this brew that gets even sweeter as it cools. This was my favorite preparation method for these beans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V60: I ground these beans a little finer than I maybe ought to have, as the final brewing time ended up being 4:10, and the result in the cup was a bit like citrus pith. Overextracted, but that was my fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chemex: I liked this iteration better than what I got from the Hario V60. Perhaps the thicker filter helped, and\/or perhaps the fact that the brew time was more suitable made the difference (this I brewed at exactly 4:00). There was a nice, zippy berry tang to this coffee, with a lovely subtle sweetness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AeroPress: This was the fruitiest of the four methods, with a lot of strawberry flavor to it. I enjoyed this as a concentrate; I didn’t add any additional water after brewing as I felt it would be a shame to dilute the strawberry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary:<\/strong> This coffee was particularly enjoyable brewed in a French press, as I felt the result was the most complex and layered of the cups. Pourover methods can create a lovely result but you have to be careful to dial in the grind just right to avoid under- or over-extraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the roaster: No tasting notes provided<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as I can tell, Sparrow does not sell their coffee online, but you can pick up bags at the Naperville cafe and at their Chicago roastery, or you can sample one of dozens and dozens of custom Sparrow roasts in Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sparrow Coffee<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Review conducted 3 days post-roast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I can’t even remember now how Sparrow Coffee got on my radar, but they were the one Chicago-based roaster for whom I was willing to go out of my way in order to buy their beans. I even scheduled my Friday flight to arrive in enough time that I could get to their roastery before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"Sparrow Coffee is probably THE most exclusive coffee roaster in Chicago, and these beans were not easy to come by. Worth the effort though if you like blackberry\/toffee sweetness!","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[7,159,3,154],"tags":[136,165,66,76,25],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/qt9ld65ruu98m7cumvde.png","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5670,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=5670","url_meta":{"origin":5668,"position":0},"title":"Review: Sparrow Coffee Kenya Iriguini (Chicago, Illinois)","date":"April 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I've written up a bit more detail regarding Sparrow Coffee in my review of their Ethiopia Guji, but for anyone unfamiliar with them, Sparrow is known for being one of Chicago's most exclusive roasters, providing custom coffee blends for a long list of Michelin-starred restaurants. I picked up this single-origin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Africa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/SparrowCoffeeRoasterylogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6622,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6622","url_meta":{"origin":5668,"position":1},"title":"Review: West Berkshire Roastery Signature Gold Espresso Beans (Berkshire, England)","date":"May 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Despite the current trend in specialty coffee leaning toward fruity, juicy light roasts (which I love!), I think that a really good medium\/medium-dark roast coffee is a thing of beauty, and it is something that goes under-appreciated these days. 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For anyone not familiar with Tweed Coffee, they are a major player in the local craft\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Africa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tn_IMG_3204.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3230,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=3230","url_meta":{"origin":5668,"position":3},"title":"Review: The Missing Bean Colombia Asopep (Oxford, England)","date":"August 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I've reviewed coffee from The Missing Bean before, back in 2016 (their Unbirthday Blend landed in my top 10 list for the year), and on a recent trip back to England, I was really happy to have a chance to meet up with my friend Katie and visit the roastery\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/IMG-3142-e1534422616109.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5582,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=5582","url_meta":{"origin":5668,"position":4},"title":"Review: Prosum Roasters Colombia Paraiso Jose Ignacio Gomez (Albuquerque, New Mexico)","date":"February 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the second coffee I got over the holidays from Prosum Roasters; you can read more about their company mission and my visit to their roastery here. Whole bean: There was just the barest sheen of oil on these beans. Very evenly roasted. Once the hot water hit the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/IMG-5803-e1548594584208.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":539,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=539","url_meta":{"origin":5668,"position":5},"title":"Coffee Destination: Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room (Seattle, Washington)","date":"June 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm back from my hiatus! And trust me when I say I will definitely be making up for lost time. I picked up 5 different coffees from 5 different roasters during my time in New York and Seattle and I can't wait to review them all. BUT FIRST.... 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