This week’s coffee comes from a roaster that’s new to me, Ceremony Coffee Roasters.  Ethiopia Wazzala is the coffee, and it’s a washed coffee from the Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia, said to be hand-sorted three times slower (presumably the conveyor belt was moving this much slower) for more uniformity and focused flavors.  It is described by Ceremony as having “lemon meringue pie aromatics, orange and tropical fruits in an elegant, effervescent cup.”  So let’s dig in.

I sort of feel like beating a dead horse when I say I reached for the 02 size Hario V60 when brewing this coffee, but typically speaking I use this method when working with lightly roasted, single origin, especially washed coffees, to brew the most transparent and nuanced cup I can.  Where immersion methods will typically result in sweeter and more full coffee, but with less transparency in various flavors available.  This coffee, despite being a washed processed coffee, which typically requires a finer grind, needed a coarse grind as both espresso and pourover.  Coarser than even the last Moca-Java oriented blend I had, Hologram, from Counter Culture. 

Cups were light in body, and I think effervescent is a good descriptor, as the acidity was present, but not lip smacking-ly so, more as just a light, bright coffee.  Wet ground when brewing had a lot of jasmine, sweet, complex tea-like aromatics, and the coffee had a bit of that floral spice as well.  I don’t know that I was able to pick out any distinct fruit notes, but the coffee had a very subdued sweetness to retain balance.  My preferred pourover recipe for this one was:

• 22 grams coffee to 340 grams water at 200*F in the 02 size Hario V60 Ceramic
• 60 gram stirred bloom for 30 seconds
• Center pour slowly working outwards to keep and even bed of coffee, pour to about 230 grams around 55 – 65 seconds in.
• Additional pours washing extra grounds down sides of filter
• Final draw down about 2:45

As espresso, this coffee was light and bright.  Body was light, but not thin, with a nice crema layer and good, light mouthfeel.  The acidity was ramped up and shots pulled too cool or too fast developed a bit of lemon juice.  Hints of tropical fruits and light floral notes were present, but striking a balance with the acidity was challenging.  The recipe I found best was:

• 18 grams in an 18 gram VST basket
• 30-32 grams out in 30-32 second using 202*F water

I did not try this coffee with milk because of the bright acidity present when straight.  I will definitely say this seems to a more filter oriented roast, but it is espresso friendly.  It would be really interesting to give this a go on a lever machine or Slayer to control pressure a little more to try and tame the acidity. 

$17 for a 12 ounce bag and $5 flat rate shipping was pushing my price threshold, but so far Ceremony seems promising and I’m looking forward to diving into the other coffees I ordered in the coming weeks, stay tuned!