Ethiopian Gedeo Yurga Cheffe - a lightbulb glows...

Coffee, cigars and rum go togther like priests and choirboys. Indeed the brothers are known to have a tipple now and then. Oh and some rum, cigars and Belgian beer as well, lol...
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Capn Jimbo
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Ethiopian Gedeo Yurga Cheffe - a lightbulb glows...

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Ethiopian Gedeo Yurga Cheffe - say THAT ten times fast...


Although we've had a lot of fun with Sweet Maria's sampler packs, we still have a certain affinity for a good Columbia Supremo. Still, consensus is that Ethiopian coffees are special, with fruity and floral tones that Columbian's don't really have. Still, like rum, it takes time to understand these tones which present very differently in coffee.

So far we haven't "gotten" it.

OTOH Columbian's have a certain robustness that most lover of black coffee really dig in the morning for a good get going cup or two. I would not be alone in blending a good Columbian with a good Ethiopian to get the best of both worlds...

A good metro-sexual blast.

But this day I'd done four roasts to create my usual blend, but found myself with a little leftover Ethiopian, so brewed up a pot.


And now we get it!

I'd just finished the roast, so against usual practice (to wait a day before using), I ground up the still warm Ethiopian, and brewed up a pot. Poured two steaming cups and we had at it.

We got it.

Although Sweet Maria review is "juicy, with tangerine, honeydew, lychee, peach candy, limeade, fresh cut flowers, loose leaf tea with a lemon zest finish" it goes without saying that we got little of that - BUT - we both "got" a distinct smooth and fruity tone. Not quite fig, but more of a candied date. Two out of nine ain't bad, especially for us.

I must say that as much as the Columbian I've loved for 50 years, we were both - for the first time - quite taken with the EGYC...
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Post by sleepy »

Yirge's are often genuinely amazing coffees. They tend to be very sensitive to roast - when right, they'll scream forth with amazing bright flavors; a bit more roasting and they become a muddy mess.

I love them and gladly enough toss my bad roasts, knowing what I'll get with a good one.

They are especialy well suited for your air popper, which can be great for light roasts.
sleepy
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Post by sleepy »

I'll just tag this here, because a general discussion of coffee vintages would be silly - by next year, they are all crap!

Given that, this year's crop of Yirga Cheffe's has been over-the-top outstanding! I've tasted at least four different coops and each has been simply wonderful.

If you don't roast, look for them at your local coffee purveyor!

BTW - if the beans show any oil droplets on the surface, it is probably over-roasted - if you find it at CharBucks(tm), it's definitely over-roasted.
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Update...


Sleepy, thanks for your observations; I ordered this coffee from Maria's, of course and couldn't be happier with it. Now it's been my practice to roast a nice Columbian to the Full City to FC+ level, and blend it 50/50 with a City to City+ roast of the Ethiopian on the theory - which has proven out - that I'd get a really complex and tasty cuppa Joe.

That proved so.

But as it turned out, I'd roasted some of the Ethiopian for a friend, and thus at the end of my bags, I really didn't have enough left to blend with the Columbian, but just enough for a good pot of straight Ethiopian. It only took a moment for Sue Sea and I to again realize the beauty of this bean, just as you described.

In the future I'll have to plan to do a bit less blending, so nice was the result...
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