Jonas Reindl Coffee Roasters: Gakurari AA

Bean: Gakurari AA, Washed, SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11, Batian. Muranga, Kenya.
Shop: Jonas Reindl Coffee Roasters, Webshop, Vienna, Austria.

Background Information:

Recently I had the chance to walk around in Vienna and visit some coffee shops. Obviously my regular visitors know about Alt wien Kaffee but this time I’m reviewing coffee from Joans Reindl Coffee Roasters. Jonas Reindl Coffee Roasters was founded in 2014 and was named after the famous tram station Jonas Reindl station. The aim was to blend in with the traditional Viennese coffee culture and at the same time present the public with specialty coffee, thus a traditional name that appealed to the public was needed.
Jonas Reindl Coffee roasters has been a succes from the start and already have two shops in the city of Vienna. The shop that I visited also had an open roastery so that the customers can actually see their coffee getting roasted. The shop caters from normal priced coffee up to a wonderful floral Geisha coffee that will appeal to all customers alike.

Gakurari AA: opening the package.

Jonas Reindl Coffee Roasters Gakurari AA package

The washed Gakurari AA comes from the Muranga region in Kenya and is actually a blend of SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11 and Batian. The package of Jonas Reindl is a deluxe carton box that has a detachable label around it. This package has a pertol blue color with a beige label. On the front of the package you will find the logo and the name of the coffee. Turn the package clockwise and you will find the company philosophy and information about the coffee itself: region, altitude, variety, processing and roasting date. on the opposite side you will find extensive tasting notes that will help you determine the flavours and aromas of this coffee.
Inside is a white bag with a ziplock and degassing valve. The beans look equally roasted and there are no defects to be detected inside. Opening the package will immediately bring the thought of tomato soup and sun-dried tomato. There is also a hint of black tea and broth on the nose. When eating a bean you will notice that it’s quite hard. The flavour that the dry bean produces is that of tomato soup, tea leaves and a mild bitterness. After grinding the coffee I noticed that the aroma’s are very strong and intense. Once again there is tomato soup, broth and tea leaves. When you let the ground coffee sit for a minute there is also a sweetness that reminds me of apricot. Let’s brew this baby!

The brewing.

Jonas Reindl Coffee Roasters Gakurari AA coffee

I have brewed the Gakurari AA on the V60, Aeropress and Clever dripper. The review will be the results of a mix of them. For the V60 I use 27 clicks on the comandante, you could go a little finer if you take out the chaff. I used a 15/225gr recipe on 94 degrees with a 2:00min time limit.

When brewing this coffee a very interesting thing happens. Looking back on the aroma’s above, you would think that an intense tomato aroma would come off of the brew, yet while brewing there is a nice lavender and lime note coming up. After brewing the aroma’s change into a lime pie, plum and raisin sweetness that is dominant above all. As the coffee cools down a hint of vanilla can be found as well as an upcoming tomato aroma. I wasn’t expecting this at all.
As I take a sip, the tomato note is back again and full on! The brew tastes a bit salty as well, making the coffee very juicy in my mouth. After swallowing I get a lime aftertaste that feels just perfect on the tongue. This aftertaste is accompanied by a soft cranberry bitterness on the side of my tongue. Letting the coffee cool down, the tomato soup note is mellowed off a little and it allows the fruity notes to pop back up again. Now I have an apricot and plum sweetness that is mingled with the lime note. A faint hint of cocoa and hazelnut can be found in the aftertaste after the coffee is cooled down even more. The acidity in this coffee is bright and tingly when it is hot, but turns towards Alkaline when it cools down again.