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Beans: Wolichu Wachu, Bourbon, Washed, Sidamo, Ethiopia.
Shop: Schot Koffie, Webshop, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Schot Koffie – Wolichu Wachu: Background information.
Wolichu Wachu is situated 30km from the town Haro Wachu in the Uraga District, Oromia. The washing station works with 4500 smallholders in the area. Fertile clay soils, yearly rainfall levels of 1500 – 2000mm and altitudes of up to 2300 meters above sea level all contribute to Wolichu Wachu’s output and profile. Unusually for Ethiopia, around 90% of coffee delivered to Wolichu Wachu for processing is Bourbon and not the usual Heirloom varieties you might expect. This washing station is relatively young since it was founded in the year 2014 but already has made name for itself.
Schot Koffie – Wolichu Wachu: Opening the package.
The package of Schot Koffie comes in a beige carton package with a degassing valve and ziplock. On the back you will find the white logo of the roaster. On the front there is a sticker that holds a little card with a lot of information about the coffee. You can read about the tasting notes, washing station, process, varietal, altitude and origin of the coffee. I like to have a lot of information about the coffee and this card is perfect.
When I open the package I clearly notice the tea like aspect of this coffee. There is also a citric and lime scent that carries a little stone fruit as well.
I eat a bean and I am quite surprised when I taste a clear lemon flavour. The sourness is spot on and very tasteful. In the end the black tea comes forth a little as well. When I grind the beans the fruity aroma’s come forth a little more as well as the black tea and a soft peach scent. I think it is time to brew!
Schot Koffie – Wolichu Wachu: The Tasting explained.
This review is a little different from all the others on my website. The difference is that today I am reviewing the coffee with a friend, Ron de Wit from Ron’s Coffee in the Netherlands. Ron works with the Dutch department of the SCA as well and it is a true pleasure to review this coffee with him. For this review we used four different brewing techniques and several recipes. After brewing on the Hario V60, Aeropress, Siphon and Gabi Dripper, we decided that the latter gave the best results. This does not mean that the other brewers gave a bad result, it just wasn’t as nice.
Schot Koffie – Wolichu Wachu: The Tasting.
We ground 15 grams of coffee, 225 grams of water at a temperature of 92 degrees Celsius. As the coffee blooms we smell several interesting notes during the process of the brew cooling down. The first interesting aroma that we notice is the tulip that is not yet in bloom. This ‘green’ note is accompanied by notes of bergamot and green apple. As the brew cools down the aroma’s get sweeter and spicier. We detect notes of blackberry, peach, apricot but also cardamom and a soft cinnamon. All this is carried by a black tea undertone.
We take a sip and write down all that we discover on the flavours. The coffee is, as expected, full with notes of tea. Black tea, Nettle tea and even hints of vanilla and rooibos. The green notes are there yet again. We come across notes of vegetables such as garden peas while tasting. The notes change over into lemon grass and the dark green part of a Galia Melon. Like always, the coffee gives us more sweet notes as the coffee cools down. We detect notes of peach, apricot pit and black cherry. The aftertaste of this coffee is remarkable in a way that it keeps lingering in your mouth. The supple, juicy mouthfeel combines perfectly with the malic acidity. With malic acidity I mean the acidity that you get when tasting unripe pear and green apple.
Schot Koffie – Wolichu Wachu: Brewer notes.
I already mentioned that we used several brewers to brew this coffee. All of them pro’s and con’s and I wanted to highlight some of them. On the Hario V60, the brew remained less sweet but focussed more on the tea like aspect of the coffee. The Aeropress got the coffee sweeter and focussed more on the fruity notes of the coffee. Especially the lemon aspects such as cardamom and lemongrass. When using the siphon the coffee got sweeter and juicier. The fruity notes were more apparent.
Schot Koffie – Wolichu Wachu: The Verdict.
Schot Koffie created an intricate roast with the Ethiopian Wolichu Wachu. Although the tasting notes only mention lime, black tea and peach, there is so much more to discover. Ron and I were pleasantly surprised about the ‘green’ notes of tulip, lemongrass and cardamom for example. The little hints of spices, such as cinnamon, on the nose were surprising as well. The fruity notes of peach, apricot and blackberry were noticeable after the coffee cooled down. In combination with the supple mouthfeel and malic acidity, this became a complete and very enjoyable coffee! Once again a great job Schot Koffie!