Coffee Advent 2023 | Part #2
After posting the first instalment of coffee advent earlier this month I was astounded to receive a lovely message from head roaster Jonny at Pact to say he and the team had enjoyed my write up! It's really of nice of them to reach out and hopefully part 2 of my armchair coffee assessment lives up to expectations.
Cheating
To address the elephant in the coffee pot, I have indeed committed the cardinal sin of opening my advent doors early. I can only apologise profusely, but to get this finished in time for the Christmas break I was forced to accelerate the schedule. Rest assured that I was suitably punished by having to consume three of these coffees on one particular day, and ended up vibrating in my office chair with a heart rate of approximately 204 bpm.
Day 14
Coffee: Karimikui (light roast)
Origin: Kenya
The Rungeto Farmers Coop Society began in 1953 and today has almost 4000 members. Each is a smallholder farmer that has, on average, a single hectare of coffee plants. These farms have rich, fertile red volcanic soils and sit at very high altitudes - the perfect recipe for aromatic coffee beans with those distinct fruity flavours that you only find in the finest Kenyan coffee.
We kick off week 3 of coffee advent strongly with this high altitude brew that strikes all the right notes, producing a symphony of flavour. And to clarify, this is no melancholic Mahler 9, but more of an uplifting Jupiter from the Planets. A top-draw caffeinated concerto (can you tell I had Classic FM on whilst drinking this one?).
Rating: 9/10
Day 15
Coffee: Gosen (light roast)
Origin: Honduras
Alma's four hectare coffee farm goes a very long way. Thanks to the deserved premium she's paid for her exceptional speciality coffee, she's been able to support the local community with safe drinking-water projects and education for the youth. With more coffee sold, she plans to continue improving facilities for workers.
This is the best we've had so far from Honduras. A silky fruity number that certainly helped me though a troublesome calculation at work.
Rating: 7.5/10
Day 16
Coffee: La Pedregosa (medium roast)
Origin: Columbia
Mauricio Vega, like many in their teenage years in Colombia, planned to move from his rural home to the city for a career in sales. That's until he saw the success his father made with speciality coffee and the potential for a bright future. He's still in his twenties, and he has big ambitions - to create "the world's best coffee". He's quickly making big strides on the way there.
I couldn't really figure out much to say about this one. Much harder is putting into words exactly why this didn't make an impression on me. It's not terrible, but it's about as exciting as watching a documentary about dust or something.
Rating: 5/10
Day 17
Coffee: Nyanza Tubiri Hill (medium roast)
Origin: Burundi
Kanyanza sits in the north of Burundi, bordering Rwanda. Recently, its coffees have been the showstoppers of international competitions, and it's stamping itself heavily onto the coffee world map. This is made there by a collective formed around a passion for speciality coffee. And you'll discover just what's so exciting about the region.
Hats off to the farmers in Burundi! This mellow artisanal brew is like a tiny cup of self-expression. Each sip is a journey through a miniature art gallery, featuring flavours that are as elusive and abstract as modern art.
Rating: 9/10
Day 18
Coffee: Fazenda IP (dark roast)
Origin: Brazil
Isidro Pereira began at this farm in 1967, and along with his son, Luiz Paolo Diaz, became one of the great coffee farmers of the region. The farm is at a very high altitude by Brazilian standards (as high as 2,000 metres above sea level). As a result, the coffee cherries benefit from slow ripening, creating a remarkably complex dark roast.
A lovely crema came through on this one, even using the areopress. Much like the diverse ecosystem of the Amazon rainforest, this dark morning cuddle is a complex blend of flavours. It's as mysterious as an unexplored jungle, with each sip revealing layers of boldness. Not a hint of bitterness, with a pinch of sweetness coming through at the end. Mega.
Rating: 8/10
Day 19
Coffee: Mi Tazita (medium roast)
Origin: Honduras
We've been buying coffee from Lorving Calderón for six years now. He works with just three workers on his small farm, so it doesn't come around often. But he's got a real knack for amplifying the character of his coffee with processing, and that's what creates these juicy, vibrant hints of peach.
Well that's a unique flavour (in the best way)! The ‘peachy hints’ are more than hints for me. It's velvety smooth and an all round juicy satisfying brew. The honey process — I learnt today — leaves a certain percentage of the mucilage on the bean during the drying process (a half way house between a 'washed' coffee and a 'natural' coffee), and supposedly results in a sweeter flavour.
My favourite so far in this process, and is going to take a lot of beating. It should come with a warning label: "May induce irrational declarations of love and contentment."
Rating: 9.5/10
Day 20
Coffee: Muungano (medium roast)
Origin: The Democratic Republic of the Congo
When the Democratic Republic of Congo gained independence, in 1960, a plot of land was distributed back to each farmer. This means that, today, each individual owns, on average, less than one hectare of land and produces just 12 sacks a coffee per year. Enter the Muungano cooperative where many hands make fantastic coffee. With this, you'll discover why DRC coffee is so exciting.
Not bad; nothing special. This coffee is to excitement as beige is to the colour wheel. I exaggerate of course, but this one is not really grabbing me by the tastebuds. To clarify... on the grand scale of coffee quality, we're still way above the likes of Nespresso/instant - in fact positively scintillating in comparison. It's just that over the past 20 days I've come to expect a lot from this advent calendar, and this one falls a tad short of the mark.
Rating: 5/10
Day 21
Coffee: Nduma (light roast)
Origin: Kenya
Nyeri is the gold standard of coffee regions, one of the best in the world. The finest coffee grown here has trademark syrupy hints of black fruits balanced brilliantly by acidity. This one is made in small quantities by farmers that each tend to a tiny spot of land. And it shows just what this famous region has to give.
If you've ever tried Haribo tangfastics then you might understand how I feel about this one. They're great, but a tad stressful to eat due to the sourness. This one will be my lowest rated Eastern African coffee so far. However, based on my previous opinion of some of the varieties in this blend, this needs a bit more inspection.
Two of the four coffee varieties in Nduma are SL28 and SL34, which are among the most-known and highly regarded varieties in Africa. On day 1 (Kiri), 7 (Kiangoi), and 14 (Karimikui) of this test I had given high scores across the board; these were all Kenyan light roasts and specifically blends of SL28 and SL34 only. Despite the reputation of SL28 and SL34 I did not find these particularly tangy. I can only suppose the high acidity issue (for my strange tastebuds at least) comes from the Ruiri 11 or Batian variety also in this blend. Curious!
Rating: 5.5/10
Day 22
Coffee: Musasa Honey (light roast)
Origin: Rwanda
The Musasa Washing Station sits on the shores of the beautiful Lake Kivu, close to the Volcanoes National Park. Here, the water moderates the temperature and gives the coffee cherries a luxuriously long ripening period in their volcanic soils. They're then processed with the honey method, resulting in a bright cup with a delicious sweetness.
This offering is middle of the road. I wouldn't say much sweetness is coming through. But then again, what do I know? It's the excel spreadsheet of coffees - it's not particularly pretty, a bit clunky, but gets the job done.
Rating: 6/10
Day 23
Coffee: Chapada Red Acaia (dark roast)
Origin: Brazil
Marcus Carvalho was a professional football player before he began on a coffee farm. He took the new challenge seriously, working with scientists and tasters for years to get the coffee just right. Today, it's absolutely exceptional - he's undoubtedly one of Brazil's finest coffee farmers. And he still has time to teach underprivileged children how to play football.
In the words of an old family friend: "Knockout"! I'm surprised that a dark roast could be so pleasant; I always expect some degree of that 'burnt-ish' taste with a dark (similar to how starbucks tends to be all the time). Not so with this particular South American brown powder; it's so smooth it could outwit Sherlock Holmes. History might have been changed forever if this coffee had been around in Tudor times. It would have easily brought peace between Henry VIII and the Pope if they'd sat down over a brew with a bourbon.... in Brazil... somehow...
Rating: 9/10
Day 24
Coffee: Gititu (light roast)
Origin: Kenya
'Gititu' comes from the word for 'big forest' in Kikuyu, one of the native languages of the society's local area. It's one of the oldest cooperatives here. Many of its members have supplied the washing station with their ripest cherries for decades. And the success of the top-notch speciality coffee is testament to its commitment to transparency and education.
With Christmas Eve's offering comes another Kenyan light roast with varieties SL28, SL34, and Ruiru 11. This one was great, so looking back to day 21 I can only conclude my tastebuds have an issue with the Batian variety.
I'm running out of unique and creative ways to describe coffee now... this one was really.... nice. I think Pact have tactically left some of the best ones for the advent climax. Bring on tomorrow!
Rating: 8/10
Day 25
Coffee: Samuel’s Coffee (medium roast)
Origin: Colombia
We've been working with Oscar Ortiz since 2015, and his coffee has gone from strength to strength since. But this time, it's different. His grandson, Samuel, has been passionate about coffee since he was a child. In Colombia, where the average age of a coffee farmer is 60, he's a TV star. This is his very first crop, produced with this grandfather - and an incredibly exciting sign of things to come.
Well we're finishing quite strongly as expected. Oily, viscous, moderately zesty, and more-ish; this one disappeared alarmingly fast. I must confess I didn't actually drink it on Christmas morning (boring schedule reasons), but I can certainly say that this would have been a near perfect accompaniment to my traditional yuletide bacon sandwich.
Rating: 8.5/10
Results
Not that the average reader is going to care particularly, but for what it's worth here's the collated results. First of all progression through the month:
With an overall mean of 7.0/10, there has been a reasonably consistent high score for most coffees, with a subtle increase in rating across the month. For the nerds, the gradient of the least square regression trend line is +0.07.
Now breaking down the ratings by roast type and UN subregion. The 'whiskers' indicate the max and min rating in the respective category.
It seems like I prefer dark roasts — which is quite a surprise — but since the mean score for each roast type is roughly the same, we cannot conclusively conclude that I truly have any strong preference. Light roasts proved to be the most inconsistent with the widest range of ratings.
As for region, the highest mean score came from Eastern African (i.e. Kenyan and Burundian coffees) which aligns with my gut feeling. It was also the most consistently scored with the narrowest range of ratings.
Conclusion
So overall: I prefer Eastern African coffees, and though dark roast is probably best, it doesn't particularly matter.
Do I recommend doing this?
Yeah, it's a nice bit of fun. I ended up learning more about where my coffee came from, how it was produced, and the different factors that affect the flavour. These are many, but to summarise: the processing/harvesting method, fermentation, altitude the plants are grown, drying process, soil composition, climate, storage, roasting, and variety can all have a significant impact.
If you've read this far then thanks for the dedication! I hope it's been not too boring and/or pretentious!
Well done to everyone at Pact for putting together another quality product. Whilst I'm here I'd just like to commend them for their ethical stance as an organisation. Their commitment to quality, professionalism, and ethical responsibility throughout the supply chain is truly admirable. I believe this balance will continue to propel them to even greater heights.
Merry Christmas everyone.
