Blind Assessment:

Evaluated as espresso. Rich, deeply roast-toned. Dark-chocolate, ripe pear, scorched sandalwood, tangerine zest, honeysuckle-like flowers in aroma and small cup. Syrupy, plump mouthfeel; resonant finish is dry but alive with aromatics: dark chocolate, sandalwood, hints of flowers and tangerine. Dry but deep, chocolaty and nuanced in three parts milk.

Notes:

Produced by about 150 small-holding farmers of the remote Biftu Gundina Cooperative. Ethiopia coffees like this one are produced from distinctive traditional Ethiopian varieties of Arabica long grown in their regions. Produced by villagers on small garden plots interplanted with food and other subsistence crops. This is a dry-processed or “natural” coffee, meaning the beans were dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed, as is the case with wet-processed or “washed” coffees. Kakalove Café is a nano-roaster located in the small city of Chia-Yi in Taiwan that strives to procure and roast the finest quality coffee. Visit www.kakalovecafe.com.tw or email kahiyuho@gmail.com for more information.

The Bottom Line: A fine darker roasted espresso: The scorched wood notes are lively and aromatic, the chocolate pleasingly bittersweet; hints of zesty citrus and sweet flowers maintain vivacity.