This last month’s worth of coffees, almost all from Go Get Em Tiger have been kind of a blur to be honest. I received two filter roast Ethiopians directly from GGET, the lighter Daniel Mijane and the slightly darker Ethiopia Yabitu Koba, as well as that same Ethiopia Yabitu Koba in an espresso specific roast, and GGET’s espresso blend, Minor Monuments, from the La Marzocco home espresso subscription.

What I regret to report is that I didn’t really take to any of these coffees. The Daniel Mijane was my favorite of the four, and I preferred it brewed, but like many washed Ethiopian’s I’ve had this year, just was so light on the palette and in flavor and missing the wow factor that really great Ethiopian coffees have. The filter roast of the Yabitu Koba was slightly more potent, but was lacking some acidity and complexity. Of all of the coffees, this was my favorite as espresso, and would be good for someone that wants a lighter roasted and subtle African coffee without too much acidity.

The real disappointment came from the Koba Espresso roast. I’ve been so hot on GGET’s initial offerings, I was thinking a single origin spro from them would be excellent. However, I found it to be pretty roasty in appearance, smell, and taste. It was more of a lighter roasted comfort shot than anything, and I would not have guessed it was a single origin, or African coffee with very little acidity present. This one I know I’m not alone on, as I even tested it side by side on a Monolith Flat, known to highlight transparency and acidity, and both the owner of the Flat and I had the same sentiment.

What’s perhaps even more surprising is I’ve been finding their more milk oriented blend to actually require a much finer grind, and seemed to have more overall sweetness than the Koba espresso. I’m pulling shots on the cooler and faster side to highlight those characteristics, but this one is also capable of making the old school nutty-chocolate-cherry bomb ristrettos, which is kind of fun. This coffee, Minor Monuments, shined when I tested the Versalab M3 with a single group slayer, pulling a big chocolate cherry bomb. Most shots were 18g in an 18g VST basket to 36g out in 26-28 seconds with 2 seconds of preinfusion at 198*F.

I have one more coffee from GGET that I just received, the Xeijuyu, Guatemalan, which is described as being a light citric roast, so I am looking forward to trying it after some adequate rest. You can now order from GGET, and this coffee is $19 for a 12 ounce bag, if you want to taste along.

Tanzania Mbeya Mwalyego AA from PT’s Coffee Roasting Co.

Another great Crema.co find, this coffee was densely syrupy sweet with a very smooth caramel like body. It has a juicy acidity that you don’t necessarily notice at first since it complements the coffee so well. The sweetness is like a sun dried fruit reduction syrup; think dates, raisins, maybe prunes, it’s very rich and smooth. This coffee proved to be very versatile as well, showing a bit more nuance and subtlety when brewed on the v60, but just making the big syrupy fruit bomb I referenced as espresso.

I enjoyed brewed cups at 1:16 or 1:16.5 ratios, using 200*F water, and a fairly standard recipe, finishing a 23.75g dose around 2:45 or so. The most densely sweet shots I got were with the Slayer single group, and its extended pre-brew feature, but that’s not to say you need to have that machine to make this one taste great. It worked well at shorter and longer ratios, again around 200F and pretty standard shot parameters otherwise. I really enjoyed this coffee, and it’s one that could be a real catch all crowd pleaser for all tastes. $19.50 for a 12 ounce bag here, and be sure to click the link below for $10 off your first order with Crema.co, if you’re not already using their wonderful service.

Ethiopia Guji Hambela Wamena from Drink Coffee Do Stuff

With a name like Drink Coffee Do Stuff, I had to give this new to me roaster a shot. This is another one discovered through Crema.co where this company was founded by a pro snowboarder and principled on great coffee to do great things. And using this naturally processed Guji as an example, they have the great coffee part nailed. The beans are uniformly small and have a ton of berry aroma upon opening the bag, always a good sign. Brewed cups on the Hario V60 at 1:16 ratio require a very coarse grind, but even when finishing out closer to 4:00 cups were very full bodied and densely sweet. Targeting brew times closer to 3:00 brought out more acidity and floral nuance, making this a fun coffee to experiment with.

I’m just starting into this one as espresso, but so far it’s seeming that it will require some updosing to prevent blonding and decent flow to get a 1:2 yield. I’m going to go guess where this one will end up, it’s somewhere around 18.7g in to 34 g out using 199*F water in 25-28 seconds. I suspect it will work well in milk too, but we will have to wait and see. This coffee is available for $21.50 for a 12 ounce bag shipped to your door here.

On Deck

I just received a few exciting coffees that I’m looking forward to trying, including the Guatemalan from GGET I mentioned above. I also just received Espresso 2 and Kenya Kieni from Coffee Collective as part of the La Marzocco Home Espresso Subscription. I’m looking forward to trying these coffees from the famed roaster out of Denmark. I also have Colombia La Morelia from Karlaca Coffee queued up in my brewlist at Crema.co, and that should be dropping later this month. As always feel free to reach out and share what you’re finding, trade recipes, or recommend other coffees, and thanks for reading.