This coffee is the last of the samples I received from Laveggio Roasteria in Binghamton, NY. Today’s review is of their Ethiopia Harrar Bagersh. I couldn’t find much about this particular coffee in my research, but I did see the Bagersh name associated with a long coffee history in Ethiopia and specifically with a famous natural coffee from Idido called “Misty Valley.” For many people in the coffee industry, it would seem that Misty Valley was their first introduction into coffee that doesn’t just “taste like coffee.”
I’m not sure if this is a natural or a washed coffee. What little information I could find makes it lean toward being a natural, but flavor suggests that it’s a washed coffee instead. Who knows? Let’s talk about the coffee!
Laveggio gives tasting notes of, “medium/heavy body, subtle berry notes, lemon, chocolate” for this coffee.[ref]http://www.laveggiocoffee.com/coffeelist.html[/ref]. I found this to be another relatively roasty offering from Laveggio Roasteria and for me it was sweet, earthy and had a wine-like vibe to it. There was a dark-red fruit presence in the fruitiness of the coffee and I was finding more of a gentle, apple-like acidity than the lemon they mentioned, although the dry cocoa finish also had a bright element that could remind one of lemon zest, just toned way down.
I enjoyed the flavors on this coffee. It had a very dry mouthfeel and that took away from its drinkability for me, but it was quite complex and gave me a lot to think about as I drank it. This is an unusual flavor profile for an Ethiopian coffee, for me, and that in and of itself is notable!