I’ve been following Goshen Coffee Company on Instagram for a long time and I’m jealous every time I see someone else drinking their coffee (LOL, I have issues), so I reached out to them about trying some of their coffee and a nice box of samples arrived at my doorstep, complete with some of the coolest stickers from a coffee company that I’ve seen!
Goshen Coffee Company is located northeast of St. Louis in Edwardsville, Illinois. Sprudge has a great article on Goshen you should read, but to make a long story short, Goshen Coffee had been a staple in Edwardsville for years when they announced they were going to close up shop and the company was purchased and transformed in 2012 by Jay Beard and roaster, Argus Keppel. Goshen is committed to using only fair trade and 100% organically grown coffees. The ones they sent me are from their “secret stash” lineup, which is heavy on naturals and sounded like would be right up my alley!
The coffee I’m reviewing today is Goshen’s Hafursa, a natural Ethiopian coffee from the Hafursa Cooperative[ref]http://www.yirgacheffeunion.com/Cooperative-Unions/hafursa-cooperatives.html[/ref] in Ethiopia’s famed Gedeo zone. This coffee is your “typical” blend of heirloom varietals and the elevation of Hafursa’s farms are in the 1900-2300masl range. This is a natural processed coffee, meaning the cherries are picked and dried intact and then the skins are removed by milling later. This usually gives a lot of sweetness and fruity characteristics to the coffee. You can buy Hafursa directly from Goshen Coffee Company for $13/8oz bag.
Goshen’s bag label promises, “blueberry, pineapple, chocolate” in the flavors of this Hafursa, so let’s see what I found! This is one of those coffees I’d be happy just smelling out of the grinder. The tropical fruits are so strong in the fragrance of the grounds that I was almost sad to have to put water over them! I brewed all my cups of this coffee using a 1:15 Gino pourover (with unbleached Kalita 185 filters). Including a 30 second bloom, my total brew times were coming in at about 4:30.
The aroma in the cup was that same tropical fruit mixed with a bit of the floral note I’ve been getting from washed Yirgacheffe coffees recently. The body is on the lighter side of medium with a finish that is just to the dry side of being neutral. There’s a pleasant aftertaste that is reminiscent of a high quality single origin dark chocolate. The main flavor in the cup, though, is pineapple and tropical fruit for days!
When I eat pineapple I get tons of sweetness, of course, but there’s also always a layer of fermentation that has happened in the fruit (just like what happens to a natural coffee as the cherry dries around it in the sun) and there’s that acidic tanginess tying it all together. I get the same profile in this coffee from Hafursa. It’s sweet and delicious and inviting with a tangy pineapple quality and a good bit of ferment (which I know can be a bad descriptor for some people, but I loved it in this coffee). The acidity keeps the coffee nice and bright and it’s uncannily like eating a slice of pineapple! Did I say pineapple already? LOL
I caught a little bit of the blueberry note in the freshly brewed cup but as the coffee cooled and opened up it was definitely overshadowed by the pineapple flavors. Despite a well-utilized ferment in this flavor profile the cup was pretty clean and it was a super-easy drinker. My first taste of Goshen coffee did not disappoint and I can’t wait to share my other reviews with you in the coming week!
For another perspective on this coffee, check out my pals at Roast Ratings, who gave this coffee 4.5 stars!