Blue Bottle Coffee
Ethiopia Nekisse
Roaster Location: | Oakland, California |
Coffee Origin: | Sidama (also Sidamo) growing region, southern Ethiopia. |
Roast Level: | Light |
Agtron: | 63/79 |
Est. Price: | $15.00/5.3 ounces |
Review Date: | December 2012 |
Aroma: | 9 |
Acidity: | 9 |
Body: | 8 |
Flavor: | 9 |
Aftertaste: | 9 |
Blind Assessment: Big, complex but balanced dried-in-the-fruit profile. Honey, nectarine, fresh blueberry, hints of milk chocolate, fir and walnut in aroma and cup. Rich, lyrically sweet acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Juicy finish.
Notes: Grown near Neji in the Sidama/Sidamo growing region, this Ethiopian coffee 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. Blue Bottle Coffee started as the quintessential boutique coffee business: a micro-roasting operation in Oakland housed inside a space about as large as a suburban walk-in closet and a single retail location in San Francisco. Since its founding Blue Bottle has attracted a strong following in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, and now operates two roasting locations: one in Oakland, California and another in Brooklyn, New York. Visit
Who Should Drink It: Superb version of the Ethiopian dried-in-the-fruit or “natural” profile, with the complex, juicy sweetness of the type expressed with unusual purity and vivacity.
This review originally appeared in the December, 2012 tasting report: Holiday Coffees: Solid to Spectacular