Friday, January 27, 2006


andrew's ecco hama, redux

andrew b. of ecco so sweetly, as noted yesterday, sent me a new bag of his prize-winning ethiopian hama yrg. long-time readers will remember this as one of the "yrgs that taste like a harrar."

i made this 4-day old coffee in the vac pot this morning at my usual 60g/2oz fresh ground coffee to 1 liter/32oz water. total brew time: 4 mins., 10 secs.

fresh, this coffee is just amazing. a yrg that tastes like a harrar and has the body of an indonesian. . .

of course, andrew's roasted it in his usual nothern-italian style, which i always call a city+ or full-city minus because the beans show no oil. they seem to have a little less sheen than his bolivian c.o.e., so i'm going say, city+ today.

so get your scaa flavor wheel handy!

the dry grounds are so sweetly floral -- they reminded me of the cherry blossoms on the washington mall -- i wanted to package them up and present them as a bouquet to someone, anyone. even as you grind them the fruit quality becomes apparent.

a blueberry perfume seeps from the hopper as the coffee's halfway finished grinding. when the water comes up top to the vac pot, the beans bloom violently, just throwing a sweet bing cherry right up into the air.

when you first sip the coffee hot, i thought at once of blueberries, and maybe something more tart, maybe blackberries. i think you just have to call this a "berry basket" of aromas -- blueberry, blackberry, sweet cherry.

beyond that first sip, there's such a strong feeling of vanilla and honey too. the aftertaste is pure deep dutch dark cocoa.

when the coffee cools, its tangy, wine-y taste becomes apparent. and even in the vac pot, which tends to diminish body, it's a thickish brew.

in the cafetiére (that's a french press to you!) this will have a blow-away, heavy, indo-type mouthfeel.

velvety would be a good word: it's as heavy as velvet. this hama is just one of my all time favorite coffees.

all of these coffees from this ethiopian auction are just incredible: the kello, the finchwa too.

the hama cupped originally at above 90, and i agree that's its a spectacular bean. we get these incredible flavors even tho' the greens from this auction, i think, must be nearly a year old.

i think they were stuck in rotterdam in shipping for months. . .and yet these are the delicious results.

highly recommended. whether it's the kello, the finchwa, or this hama, i urge all of you to get your hands on one of these coffees.

order from the roaster closest to you! fresh they are unbeatable.

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