Blind Assessment:

Sweetly herb- and spice-toned. Lemongrass, ripe plum, cinnamon, baker’s chocolate, sarsaparilla in aroma and cup. Tart-leaning structure with high-toned acidity; plush, syrupy mouthfeel. The finish leads with notes of lemongrass and cinnamon in the short, with the root-beer-like sarsaparilla note returning in the long.

Notes:

This coffee tied for the highest rating in a cupping of coffees from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador for Coffee Review’s March 2019 tasting report. Certified organic. Produced by Ilda María Mayo entirely of the Typica variety of Arabica. This is a wet-processed or “washed” coffee, meaning the fruit skin and pulp were removed from the beans immediately after harvesting and before drying. Kickapoo Coffee Roasters works directly with coffee cooperatives and growers to ensure high standards for quality, sustainability and farmer compensation. It operates one of the first on-site, solar-powered roasteries in the world. Visit kickapoocoffee.com or call (608) 637-2022 for more information.

The Bottom Line: An entertaining Ecuador coffee with an unusual profile that pleasingly suggests root beer, punctuated by bright herb and sweet-toned spice notes.