Description
Green apple and raisin up front, over a base of sweet bread pastry and semi-sweet chocolate. A lighter roast pushes the juicier, fruit-forward side, with that green apple staying crisp and a touch of floral. In the middle it all rounds out: the raisin and sweet bread take center stage and the semi-sweet chocolate shows up with a syrupy body, which is where this coffee really shines. Darker leans on the chocolate and ripe-fruit tone, but push it too far and you lose the fruit and start to taste the decaf process. Low to medium acidity with good body.
This lot comes from smallholder producers in the Kercha district of the Guji Zone, Oromia Region, in southern Ethiopia, and it was curated by Royal Coffee from lots selected for cup profile, physical preparation, and their potential to express well once decaffeinated. Guji was only defined as its own administrative zone in 2002 (it used to be part of Sidamo/Borena), and over the last decade it has grown into one of the most sought-after specialty origins in the world, rivaling neighboring Yirgacheffe and Sidama. The zone is named after one of the Oromo tribes, a people so tied to coffee that they have their own origin story for the plant itself.
