Blind Assessment

Intensely rich, sweetly savory. Dried raspberry, aged rum, paprika, pipe tobacco, wisteria-like flowers in aroma and cup. Sweet-savory in structure with gentle acidity; full, velvety mouthfeel. The flavor-saturated finish fulfills the promise of the cup, carrying over each of the distinct fruit, earth, spice and chocolate notes, together with a hint of sweet ferment suggesting aged rum.

Notes

This coffee tied for the second-highest rating in a cupping of coffees roasted by women for Coffee Review‘s April 2018 tasting report. Although Ethiopia is the botanical home of Coffea arabica, Yemen introduced the beverage to the rest of the world in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Yemeni coffee is still grown from ancient heirloom cultivars of Arabica on stone-walled terraces ringing fortress-like mountaintop villages. All Yemen coffees are natural-processed, i.e., dried in the whole fruit. Imported by Mokhtar Alkhanshali of Port of Mokha Coffee, who has worked with farmers to improve their harvesting and drying procedures, and who selects and meticulously transports microlots like this one to the U.S. Founded in 1995, Equator Coffees & Teas is a women-owned wholesale coffee roasting company that focuses on sustainability in coffee-sourcing and business practices. Visit www.equatorcoffees.com or call 800-809-7687 for more information.

Bottom Line

A gorgeous Yemen coffee that rewards the observant drinker with layers of nuance that unfold with patience, touching all the notes: fruit, earth, chocolate, spice.

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