Last week’s meeting featured Has Bean’s Ethiopia Kebel Kercha Guji. Billed as zingy and effervescent by the roasters, we especially loved its bright blueberry notes. Since a French press would have overpowered the coffee’s sweetness, we mainly used the Hario v60 and Clever Dripper brewing methods to highlight its berry notes and syrupy mouthfeel. Unfortunately, the Sweetshop espresso didn’t arrive from England in time for the meeting, but that just means we’ll have it for this coming week alongside our two new roasts.
Photo by Sharon Cho
This week we’ll be featuring two really exciting varieties from neighboring regions of Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. First is Klatch Coffee’s Kochere Grade 1 from the Yirgacheffe region, a region known for its citrusy coffee. This has always been a crowd favorite at past meetings. The “Grade 1” part means that these beans are of the highest caliber in terms of uniformity, cleanliness, ripeness, and most importantly, taste. We’re really excited to finally be sampling one of Klatch’s coffees, as they’re one of the few widely-acclaimed roasters we’ve yet to feature. In addition to the unmistakable lemon-lime notes characteristic of a Yirgacheffe single-origin, Klatch’s tasters identify notes of jasmine and honeysuckle.
Photo by Sharon Cho
Our second coffee is roasted by Madcap Coffee Company and sourced from the Gera district which is only separated from the Yirgacheffe region by about 100 miles of Ethiopian highlands. This particular variety comes from the Yukro coffee collective, a small but growing alliance of about 400 local farmers and shareholders which grew out of a partnership with an NGO. Although only in its third year, the Yukro collective is already getting high praise across the coffee world and we’ve already enjoyed a great Yukro espresso from Workshop roasters last term. Madcap’s tasters describe this batch as bright with notes of citrus, berries, and black tea.
Photo by Sharon Cho
We can’t wait to try both of these coffees side-by-side and see how much of a difference 100 miles can make. As always, we’ll be holding our weekly meeting Friday from 3 to 5 in the New Hamp lounge. Come for a lesson in brewing your own espresso or just to relax and taste some great coffee with great company.
Photo by Sharon Cho
If you’re interested in Coffee Club, you can blitz us at Dartmouth.Coffee.Club@dartmouth.edu.