It's time again for another rousing episode of the Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen on the Sprudge coffee podcast The Coffee Sprudgecast! Learn about how we curate our popular city guides, find out about the 16th Annual Sprudgie Award Finalists (voting open now!)
On this episode of The Coffee Sprudgecast Michelman and Carlsen wet their whistles with a Chemex brew of Bekele Kachara Natural out of Muraga, Ethiopia roasted by our friends and partners Heartwood Coffee Roasters. "Bekele employs a meticulous approach to coffee farming," Heartwood writes on its website, "using shaded pre-drying beds on-site and nurturing specific coffee varieties. he uses organic methods, fertilizing his farm with compost or agricultural residues. His expertise in coffee processing comes from years of experience, including work at stations in the Bensa and Bona districts of the Sidama region." Delicious!
As things started to heat up, the hosts alleyooped a Ceado Hoop Brew of Partners Coffee's *secret process* Ethiopia Suke Quto. What's the big secret? We have a few guesses after tasting flavor notes of wild cherry, pineapple candy, and concord grape.
So too does Partners Coffee green buyer Sam Klein, who writes, "we mean it when we say 'secret' process—the few things we do know only add to the mystery. (We think there was inspiration drawn from a globally beloved soft drink.) What's left, then, is sensory clues. It appears to have been dried as a natural (with the fruit still intact), judging from the intensity of fruit flavor, syrupy body, and the reddish appearance of the unroasted coffee. The flavors are articulate and complex, and we're consistently reminded of grape and cherry soda, lambrusco, and root beer, which gradually mellow to white peach, pineapple candy, and passionfruit. Signs point to some kind of intervention in the fermentation process that would aid in the coffee's complexity—perhaps an additional fermentation stage, possibly in an environment where ambient oxygen has been displaced or removed." We love a little mystery in our cup. Who doesn't?
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.