Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (MAO)

Sweet Maria's Coffee

Yirgacheffe will beat you with a flower. It is truly a seductive coffee! Yirgacheffe is a town in Sidamo region, a high plateau north of Harar...Yirg. should mean "highest quality, most fruity acidity" compared to washed Limmu and washed Sidamo --or else the name doesn't mean anything at all! I cupped Yirgacheffes hard this season, with so many blah samples arriving. Many were less impressive than even the 2 year old samples that are getting a bit "baggy" by now, even lots from the exact same exporter as this one, which underscores the importance to cup each and every distinct lot. All-in-all, there are great Ethiopian coffees out there this year, but you have to do a lot of cupping of individual lots to find them, and it's a lot of work. And all of this years Yirgacheffes have a flavor profile shift: they are not as acidic and citrusy as previous years. But the flavors can be intriguing, and this particular lot leaped out in the cupping because of it's truly unique character. The dry fragrance from the grounds is sweet and caramelly; the aroma from the brewed cup has great sharp peppery notes when taken a bit darker in the roast, a few snaps into 2nd crack. At that roast the flavors in the cup are a dark raisiny sweetness, behind pungent black pepper... but I really prefer the Yirgacheffe at it's peak roast, which is between City to Full City, and not into 2nd crack at all. Even at the verge of 2nd crack the cup has remarkable high notes, and a dry zest in the finish, with hints of plum. With a City to City+ roast the cup is more citrusy, especially as it cools, with complex with tangy bittersweets. The floral aromas, sweet jasmine and honeysuckle, are so intense when brewing this coffee that you can smell it a mile away.

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