If you’ve spent any time perusing KCcoffeegeek.com you’ve probably noticed that I have reviewed a ton of coffee from Case Study Coffee Roasters in Portland, OR. They have been EXTREMELY generous in providing tasting samples to me and after having sampled a good amount of their coffee I can say, with utmost confidence, that they are consistently awesome in their sourcing and roasting of coffees from all over the world. I know I sound like a fanboy, but I’ve reviewed 13-14 of their coffees as well as had others at their café’s and they do it right, period!
Today’s review is a washed Ethiopian coffee from Limu Gera (southwest Ethiopia) I got from Case Study on my last visit to Portland in May 2015. Case Study isn’t set up for online sales currently, but you can order this over the phone and they will ship it to you, happily so give them a call!
Washed coffees from Ethiopia tend to be clean and light-bodied. Over-roasting them will bring out some chocolate but will also generally ruin the coffee (in my opinion) and under-roasting them can force some acidity and extra brightness but make them thin and overly tea-like (also in my opinion).
Case Study’s Limu Gera is nicely roasted, for my tastes. Lots of florals were apparent in the aroma and the coffee is sweet, features nice bitterness and is perfectly balanced. The body is light with an aftertaste that falls off pretty quickly and that’s typical of washed Ethiopians.
Overall I would say this is a relatively bright cup but without a lot of apparent acidity. I often get a pretty heavy lemon vibe from washed Ethiopian coffees but I wasn’t pulling out any lemon or lime flavors specifically, nor were my cheeks lighting up like they usually do in the presence of acids in coffee. They were obviously in the cup because the coffee was balanced and bright, but they weren’t but the acidity was restrained and along for the ride rather than playing a starring role. The sweetness had a bit of peach flavor in it for me, which I always love to find in coffee!
Another winner from Case Study Coffee Roasters. What can I say? They do a fantastic job and are super-consistent and they set a great example for the specialty coffee industry!