Rounding out another good run with Mountain Air Roasting out of Asheville, North Carolina is Thageini AA.  A washed SL-28 cultivar from the Nyeri region, Mountain Air describes this coffee as, "big smelling tropical fruit, like Hawaiian Punch.  Citrus flavors when hot, more juicy flavors as it cools, subtle spice notes, bright acidity, slight milk chocolate in the finish."  With flavor descriptors of, "citrus, guava, and grape."

Now that's a lot going on in a coffee!  I definitely picked up the Hawaiian Punch like tropical fruit aroma, and some of the citrus acidity both as brewed coffee and as espresso.  The milk chocolate leaned more cocoa powder in my opinion as espresso, and the spice notes became more prominent in the short cup.  Increased juiciness in the form of citrus like fruits shined through as it cooled.  This coffee had decent body for a washed, single origin espresso, and a light layer of crema.  It needed a substantially finer grind than the washed Ethiopia Gedeb I used before it.  

In the 18 gram VST basket, the subtle spice, and juicy acidity were highlighted, pulling shots at:

• 18 grams in
• 30 grams out
• 27-30 seconds @ 202*F

A similarly proportioned recipe in the IMS 16/20 Precision Double basket yielded sweeter but less nuanced and transparent results.

I enjoyed this coffee as pourover the most, using my trusty 02 size Hario V60 Ceramic.  I don't know if I could pick out all of the individual fruit flavors they list, but the description definitely seems accurate for this coffee when brewed at:

• 21.9 grams coffee : 340 grams 200*F water
• 30 second stirred bloom of 50 grams
• Slow pour to 180-200 grams, stir.
• Pour in 50 gram or so increments maintaining about a half full water level.
• 2:45 total time.

The coffee was nuanced and intricate, but sweet and approachable.  Sweet and juicy but delicate with a hint of spice.  I often times question if I struggle with washed Kenyan coffees, or maybe they're just not my favorite, but this one was really good when brewed.  

Unfortunately it looks like others thought so too, as this one is no longer available.  It was replaced by Chinga PB though which has a similarly delicious description.  Pick that one up from Mountain Air for $13.95 for a 250 gram bag or buy four bags and reduce the price to $9.77 for 250 grams, and the shipping is always fast and free.