Girma Bekele

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Kochere

Producer: Girma Bekele

Altitude: 1800 - 2100 mass

Varietal: Mixed Heirloom (Walisho, Dega, & Kurume)

Process: Natural

Roaster: Proud Mary x Voilà

Price: 16 USD per 5 single servings

Tasting Notes: Brown Sugar, Jasmine, Melon, Berries, & Syrupy

_________Intensity____Quality

Aroma_____ ⚄__________⚄

Rich aroma of brown sugar holds faint floral notes of white jasmine petals within it.

Acidity ____ ⚁__________⚂

Generally more muted than one would expect, the acidity is faintly berry-like, and accompanied with white floral notes.

Sweetness ⚃__________⚃

There is a clean sweetness that is reminiscent of syrup that is at the same time, vaguely juicy.

While not rich and brimming with clear flavor notes, it has a well developed sweetness.

Body _____ ⚃__________⚄

A pleasantly robust body. It might be worthy of note that the intensity of body might vary accordingly by the volume of water used per sachet.

Finish_____ ⚄__________⚃

Honeyed brown sugar notes complete the taste profile and leave behind a nice and lasting finish. Not sweet, the finish has a little of the dryness and sweetness of black tea.

Notes

This is a specialty Instant Coffee in collaboration with Voilà, sourced directly from its producer in Ethiopia, Girma Bekele. It does not feel like a fair comparison to put this coffee against actual, freshly brewed, speciality coffee, but, for the sake of a point of reference for discourse, this is marked against my experiences of drinking specialty filter coffee.

This coffee presents a well executed brown sugar-like developed sweetness, yet it seems to just appear a tad flat. Compared to conventional instant coffee, this coffee far outshines the former, and for the convenience it purports, it is definitely an experience for coffee drinkers familiar with the wide modulation in taste profiles that specialty coffee offers.

I really do like how the coffee was roasted, with the rich brown sugar notes and floral acidity, and can definitely imagine myself enjoying its freshly brewed counterpart. The amount of engineering complexity involved in creating this simple sachet marvels me, and while we can conjecture that the freeze drying process causes some of the flavors to lose its clarity as part of the process, it does not fall too short when viewed in terms of providing easily accessible and achievable specialty coffee.

Overall ⚃