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Bean: Heirloom, Washed process, Wonsho Hunkute cooperative, Sidamo, Ethiopia.
Shop: Barista Jam, Hong Kong.
Barista Jam – Wonsho Hunkute Lot 2: Background information.
This coffee is from a Cooperative within the Sidama Union, the Wonsho Hunkute cooperative. This cooperative is known for the high altitude on which the farmers grow their coffee. This cooperative has been performing very well the last couple of years and has produced quality Sidamo Heirloom coffee that is abundant with floral notes and it’s tea like aspect. The high altitude of 2000 meters is definitely attributing to the flavours of this coffee.
This particular batch of coffee, the Wonsho Hunkute Lot #2, has been roasted by William So, the owner of the highly recommended coffee shop Barista Jam in Hong Kong.
Barista Jam – Wonsho Hunkute Lot 2: Opening the package.
The package of Barista Jam is a beige bag that comes with a ziplock and a degassing valve. When opening the package the familiar scent of tea almost immediately greets you and stays with you for a while. The beans are equally roasted and there is still a bit of mucilage attached to the beans. When eating a bean a soft tea like flavour appears before the typical soft bitterness comes in and mingles with the tea. I’m going to review this coffee on the Hario V60 and Siphon.
Barista Jam – Wonsho Hunkute Lot 2: The tasting on the Hario V60:
I start with a 15gr/220gr brew on the Hario V60. The bloom is done with 50 grams of water at 92 degrees for 35 seconds. The second pour is 70 grams up to 120gr. From there I do two more pours of 60 grams each to get a rounded 220 grams of brew.
The moment I start to bloom this coffee I smell a pungent floral aroma that has a faint and short lavender to it. This is a quick aroma that is replaced with earl grey tea afterwards. When the brewing is done I take a sip and slurp oxygen inside. The flavours of honey sweetened tea and floral notes come across smooth but very noticeable. I focus on the floral notes when I slurp the oxygen inside and I discover a Syringa Mock Orange blossom and a hint of jasmine. The Mock Orange has nothing to do with orange flavours, but the white petals of this plant give off a scent that can remind one of jasmine. The tea like aspect and the honey flavour of this coffee is all over my palette. When I breathe through my closed mouth and let it out through my nose a hazelnut chocolate aftertaste comes forth as well, albeit not very long. I love the citric, bright acidity that accompanies the light body on this coffee a lot.
Barista Jam – Wonsho Hunkute Lot 2: The Tasting on the Siphon.
The brew I am reviewing on the Siphon is 14.3gr/170gr. I make sure the water never boils and the output temperature of this brew is a nice 72 degrees Celsius.
The brew of this coffee smells just great; a sweetened earl grey tea wafts up while brewing. When the brew is done a sweetness comes forth and makes me think of sugared tea with a hint of vanilla and jasmine. I take a sip and immediately notice the bright acidity on this brew as well that sweetness again. On the Hario I could definitely trace the honey but here it’s more like refined sugar. The oxygen that I slurp in activates the tea-like aspect of this brew even more and gradually the citric aspect of the acidity becomes more apparent. Unfortunately the hazelnut chocolate aftertaste is not present in this brew. The light body makes this coffee easily drinkable throughout the day and the acidity does not interfere either.
Barista Jam – Wonsho Hunkute Lot 2: The Verdict.
This Sidamo Wonsho Hunkute Lot 2 coffee is very well roasted. The words that come to mind are elegant and smooth, meaning that no aroma or flavour in this coffee is so overly present that is pushes back the others. The tea like aspect is amazing in this coffee and really makes it a coffee that you can drink all day long. I prefer the Hario V60 brewing method on this coffee because of the short lingering hazelnut chocolate aftertaste. It does not last long, but it is definitely in there for you to discover. This is the kind of coffee that would make me visit Barista Jam over and over, and it is roasts like these that make it my number one coffee shop in Hong Kong.