Blind Assessment: Balanced, fruit-toned, deeply sweet. Mulberry, wine barrel, dark chocolate, sandalwood, freesia in aroma and cup. Sweet-tart structure with wine-like acidity; satiny-smooth mouthfeel. The finish leads with mulberry and dark chocolate, supported by spice-toned aromatic wood and freesia-like flowers.

Notes: This coffee tied for the second-highest rating in a cupping of coffees from New England roasters for Coffee Review’s February 2019 tasting report. Southern Ethiopia produces distinctive coffees from traditional, largely indigenous varieties of Arabica long grown in the region. This is a dry-processed or “natural” version, 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 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 spice-driven, fruit-forward natural-processed Ethiopia cup: rich, resonant, clean, deep.