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Beans: Fucking Strong Coffee, Bourbon, double fermented, fully washed, Gakenke, Rwanda.
Shop: Good beans, Fucking Strong Coffee, shop and webshop, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Good Beans – Fucking Strong Coffee: Background information.
This review is about Good Bean’s Fucking Strong Coffee. Good Beans is a company that was set up by three guys: an American, a Norwegian and a British Frenchman. Together they set up shop in Amsterdam and decided to do things differently. No more minimalistic words to describe their coffee. No more snobby terms thrown into the ether just to sound interesting, and no more excluding the ‘normal person’ by presenting their coffee as if it’s a tin can filled with Beluga Caviar.
Their idea is a ethically-sourced coffee presented to the public without the all-to-common posh and pretentiousness. The result is Fucking Strong Coffee (try saying that with a snobby accent); a coffee sourced in Rwanda by a cooperation that is led by a majority-female leadership council. Not only do they grow high quality coffee, these women also aim to alleviate regional poverty, empower the women in Rwanda and invest in sustainability.
The coffee is grown in the Buhuri area; a fertile and mineral rich piece of land that lies about 2000m above sea level. At the Twongerekawa Coko washing station, this coffee gets double fermented and then is fully washed before it is shipped to Amsterdam. Let’s see if the coffee is as Fucking good as the name suggests.
Good Beans – Fucking Strong Coffee: Opening the package.
Now this is something you don’t see all to often: coffee that is packaged in a tin can! The tin can has a wrapper around it that has a lot of information. On the front of the can you will find the name Fucking Strong Coffee written in a playful white font. When you turn the tin can round you come across all the information that you need: the country or origin, variety, altitude, cupping score, flavor description, processing method and the farm/washing station. I always applaud so much information on a package since it gives a lot of insight on the coffee itself.
When opening the tin can you do have to be careful. When I slowly opened the can, the lid actually popped up into my face because of the internal pressure. I could have guessed that this would happen but hey, I got carried away by this beautiful packaging! The coffee looks great; an equally omni-roasted coffee with no defects to be found inside the tin can. The accompanying letter says that I should try their coffee on any method that I like. I chose to brew this coffee as an espresso and on the Hario V60 and Aeropress. The coffee smells sweet and fruity when I grind it, I can even detect a soft hint of cherry on the coffee. Let’s brew!
Good Beans – Fucking Strong Coffee: The tasting.
I brewed this coffee on the Aeropress and Hario V60. My personal preference is the Hario V60 since I got more detailed flavours out of the coffee.
I started brewing the coffee and noticed a lovely smell of earl grey, vanilla and sugar while it was hot. When the coffee cooled off the fruity notes popped up and I could smell red fruit, peach and even a faint floral note on the coffee. I take a sip and slurp oxygen inside my mouth. The sour note of the coffee reminded me of the peel of an orange. As I swirl the coffee in my mouth the orange note changes into unripe kiwi. This is not just the flavour, but it’s also the mouthfeel that you get while eating one. The coffee opens up as it cools down and soon I notice a grapefruit and red currant sensation in the back of my mouth. There is a soft bitterness but also a clear flavour of the red currant that dominates my pallet now. When swallowing the coffee there is a cherry note that pops up as well. You will find it when breathing back through your nose via your closed mouth. The acidity of the coffee is high and I would best describe this a malic although there is definitely a citric aspect to it as well.
The espresso tasting.
For the espresso tasting I use my Rocket Giotto Evoluzione R and my Fiorenzato F64 Evo. As soon as my machine starts brewing, the aroma of the coffee starts to fill up the room. A fruity scent is accompanied by the aroma of red fruit, toasted crumbs and a floral note as well.
As soon as the brewing is done (I suggest pulling a slightly longer shot with about 19 grams) I take a sip and quickly slurp some oxygen inside my mouth. The sourness is there on the sides of my tongue and I clearly get the kiwi note again. The orange peel is there as well, albeit in the background and more in the mouthfeel. I swirl the coffee in my cup and take another sip: red fruit, grapefruit and red currant take over the notes now. On the nose there is also a faint hint of peach, but I could not detect this as a flavour. When swallowing the coffee a soft savoury note comes forth as well and I think it’s close to hazelnut. This is just a tiny part of the overly fruity aftertaste that just keeps lingering. The acidity is fairly high and after three shots my stomach tells me to slow down a little. But do I want to with a coffee as fruity as this one?
Good Beans – Fucking Strong Coffee: The verdict.
I love how more and more companies are pursuing their goals in terms of providing coffee with a message. Good Beans has a clear message that I fully support: women empowerment, sustainable coffee, alleviating poverty and bringing specialty coffee to the common person.
With Fucking Strong Coffee they do exactly that and they do it with a very nice coffee. This coffee will give you a cup full of fruits such as red fruit, cherry, red currant, kiwi and orange. I enjoyed this coffee a lot, especially while sitting in the sun overlooking my garden and enjoying spring time. Brewing this coffee as an espresso? Use a higher dosage (19grams) and pull a slightly longer shot to get more out of the coffee. The cherry note is very nice but is not easily detected. You will find it on the nose when the filter coffee cools down or in the aftertaste of the espresso. Well done Good Beans!!!