50 beans | BB Small Lot – Ethiopian Nekisse

On a recent trip to SF, I swung by blue bottle with an old buddy of mine for a cup of new orleans iced coffee (and possibly some beans). There, we came across their usual seasonal blends of direct-sourced coffee and their usual hayes valley blend. Then, in a separate display, they had these little tins that resembled candy containers. Initially, I had thought that maybe they had branched out to offering some kitschy chocolate covered coffee beans or something, but apparently, upon closer inspection, these were in reality a new line of small lot coffee, which they source in small batches and roast up to order.

At first glance, the canister is definitely different then their usual brown-bag feel. It gives a good solid-in-the-hand feel (at ~45/lb it ought to come with a better container), and upon breaking the seal, you get a whiff of the beans…freshly roasted but not burnt. My first taste will be with a V60 pourover, coarse grind (hario mini-mill), first pour/bloom for ~10 sec, followed by ~45 sec brew time (doing this at work…I don’t have scale/timer here – timing done with speedmaster).

The aroma is quite pleasant – it’s definitely one of the better smelling coffees I’ve brewed. The taste is sweeter than the last roast I had (Guatemalan from Temple Café), and had a more pronounced fruit flavor. Another reviewer noted that it had a light blue and blackberry flavor, which I didn’t experience (to me it felt more citrus-like). Of course I’m not very good at describing flavors and smells so you’ll have to bear with me.

The first taste carried a changing flavor, depending on what part of the mouth is experiencing it. At the back, you can feel the roast and the caramelized flavor comes out a bit. The citrus taste comes out a bit at the left side of my tongue. At the tip…I taste nothing (kinda sad actually – maybe that’s cuz I killed off all those taste-buds the last time I had Korean food). One thing I will point out though, this coffee has a creamy texture to it (no I didn’t put creamer in it)…almost as if someone had melted some butter into it (I know that sounds weird).

All in all, a good tasting cup of coffee. I’m not going to pretend that I am an expert at reviewing coffee. All I can say is that it was definitely tasty and I enjoyed it. For more technical information, here’s some information provided by the roaster:

Location: Aleta Wondo, Sidama, SNNPR, Ethiopia
Altitude: 1700-2000 meters
Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopian varietals
Processing: Dry-processed
Preparation Methods: Pour Over, French Press, Espresso, Siphon