Blind Assessment:

High-toned, floral. Dried apricot, magnolia, almond butter, maple syrup, cherry brandy in aroma and cup. Crisp, sweetly-tart in structure; plush, syrupy mouthfeel. Notes of magnolia and dried apricot dominate in the flavor-laden short finish, with hints of almond butter and fruit brandy in the long.

Notes:

This coffee tied for the second-highest rating in a tasting of 71 organic-certified coffees from Africa for Coffee Review’s November 2017 tasting report. Southern Ethiopia coffees like this one are produced from traditional Ethiopian varieties of Arabica long grown in the region. This is a dry-processed or “natural” Yirgacheffe, 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. Certified USDA organic. Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea is a pioneer specialty coffee roaster established in the early 1980s that has gracefully and successfully moved with the times and now offers a menu of extremely refined small-lot, single-origin coffees. Visit www.willoughbyscoffee.com or call 800-388-8400 for more information.

The Bottom Line: A deeply sweet natural-processed Ethiopia cup, with stone fruit and brandy notes as parallel throughlines.