Thursday, January 05, 2006


andrew's hama co-op yrg

various events have conspired to prevent me from writing as much as i'd like about andrew b's ecco hama co-op yrg from the famed ethiopian internet auction. what's important to note is that in this auction, the hama was the second most highly rated in both the washed and unwashed (natural, or dry-process) categories.

another point of interest about this certified fair-trade and organic bean is that it was grown at 2100 m/nearly 6,900 feet! that's high-altitude coffee!

the hama co-op is a member of the famed yrg farmer's union, the ycfcu, as is batdorf's "latitudes" yrg from the kello co-op and oren's yrg/sidamo from the finchwa co-op.

again i made this coffee this morning in my little 2-cup (10 oz/296 ml water) bodum french press; and so used 0.6 oz/17 g coffee by weight. as i've said before, just opening the bag allows you to smell the blueberry. . .

andrew's roast on this coffee is northern italian style: in this case i didn't today see any oil on these beans, not even a pinprick, which i'm calling full city. at this age, it's a lightly wine-y tasting coffee.

yuppers, i'm talking about the scaa flavor wheel!

the fresh grounds smell floral and strongly blueberry. this is a very yummy combination if you ask me; i've always found it irresistable, in fact.

when you first break the crust on this coffee to stir in, even in press brewing, there's a little ferment, which i think comes from the dry processing. but this quickly dissipates and turns a little citrus!

when you slurp the coffee, or just drink it, the aroma is fantastic caramel. the aftertaste is long and chocolate-y, no doubt.

again, you'd be forgiven for thinking this baby was a delicious harrar. what i noted about this coffee was its nice balance as well.

it's a really engaging and beautiful coffee. highly recommended.

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