July 2024 - Keep Experimenting, We'll Keep Cupping

July 2024’s Coffee Origin
Ethiopia - Queen City Harrar - Natural

ETHIOPIA - QUEEN CITY HARRAR
Region: East Harrar
Varietals: Ethiopian Heirloom
Growing Elevation: 5900+ feet
Process: Natural Process, Patio Dried on Raised beds
Flavour Profile and Notes: GO CUP YOURSELF and find out!

This Month's Coffee Selection
Coffees from "Harrar" are notorious for being a mishmash of different bean sizes, varietals and quality. This is because many Harrar offerings are a blend of different East and West Harrar offerings cleaned of matter (such as rocks and sticks) then exported as is.

Queen City lots were created to showcase a more consistent, higher quality version of the Harrar experience. Queen City Harrar lots go through "intensive sorting and screening" during the harvesting and collection of the coffee cherries followed by further preparation before being exported.

This Queen City Harrar lot was created in cooperation with Mr. Abdullahi (a nephew of Mr. Ogsadey of the famed MAO Horse Brand). It was formed using the top lots from the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange Auction to ensure a superior offering to other Harrar coffees.  If we're going to Cup a Harrar to understand its full potential, we think it should be the highest quality offering we can find (we hope you agree). So was all the sorting and cleaning and screening worth the effort and extra cost? Why don't you Go Cup Yourself and find out!

Roaster’s Notes:
Harrar coffees are notoriously difficult to roast evenly. Similar to many Ethiopian origins, they prefer a lower initial charge and still come up quickly in second crack. Couple that with the uneven bean sizes and moisture levels and Harrar can be a multi-shaded nightmare if its roasted too quickly. Queen City Harrar is quite a lot more consistent in its bean size and quality than many Harrar offerings. That being said, it is still a finicky Ethiopian origin that needs to be carefully monitored to create an even roast. 

This month's coffee is one that we carry consistently in the shop and is a favourite of many of our regulars. The flavour profile is interesting and can change from year to year and notably from roast to roast. While it is a Natural Processed coffee, it does not shed a lot of chaff during the roast and has much subtler flavours than its better known Ethiopian counterparts. This month we went with a light-medium roast to highlight the delicate notes that you can find in a high quality Harrar offering.

While cupping this month look for hints of Dried Fruit followed by …wait a minute, if you want cupping notes Go Cup Yourself!

Once you have finished Cupping, click on the “EXPERT TASTED” tab for our tasting notes. Can’t wait to compare notes.

As always, we'd love to hear from you. Better yet, tell the world what you think. If you've been enjoying the Go Cup Yourself experience, please take a moment to review us on Facebook, Google, Yelp, Reddit, a bathroom stall door or anywhere you get your reviews.