In the past few weeks we've introduced three excellent new coffees; the Kenya Akiba peaberry, the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gebeya, and the Guatemala Finca La Providencia.
The new kenya was sort of a surprise find. We were cupping a sample of a really generic sounding Kenya (The name was something like "Kenya Stock Lot 147592"), with no specific information telling us anything about the location, cultivars, etc., and were surprised to find a wonderful cup with sweet, juicy blackberry and currant. This one has a ton of the Kenya character we look for, and a very interesting acidity/sweetness profile. At first, it doesn't seem as acidic as many great Kenyas, but the acidity is there; just balanced by a lot of sweetness. Since "Kenya Stock Lot 147592" didn't sound very appealing, we chose the name "Kenya Akiba." Akiba is Swahili for stock, supply, or reserve.
Our new Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gebeya has a similar story. New legislation in Ethiopia made it difficult this year for farms and mills in Ethiopia to export their coffees with traceability preserved. So instead of coffees from specific producers, we've been seeing a lot of Ethiopian coffees coming in with no information beyond broad region (Harar, Sidamo, Yirgacheffe) and grade. Nevertheless, we found a delicious new crop Yirgacheffe. We might not know exactly where in the Yirgacheffe region it came from, but we do know that the producers took very good care of it. The cup is bright and lemony, with a potent floral aroma and strong peach notes as the cup cools. We chose the name "Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gebeya" to give it some distinction from all the other Yirgacheffes out there. Gebeya is the Amharic word for market.
Our last new coffee, the Guatemala Finca La Providencia, came to us complete with lots of great information about the farm. This lot is 75% Caturra variety, with the remainder comprised of Bourbon, Catuai, and Mundo Noevo. The 33.8 hectare farm lies at an altitude of 1550 meters in the mountainous Huehuetenango region, and the coffee is wet milled and dried on site. The Palacios family has owned this farm since 1954.
The cup is classic; very sweet and balanced, with notes of cherry, milk chocolate, and a subtle nuttiness. It's hard to tire of this coffee. Every time I taste it I am thrilled with it. It doesn't scream at you with loud flavors, but it is incredibly enjoyable to drink and seems to appeal to just about everyone.