Onyx Coffee Lab – Ethiopian Yirg Kochere

Onyx Yirg Kochere bagOn the review table today is Onyx Coffee Lab’s Ethiopian Yirg Kochere, a Grade 1 natural coffee from the Kochere woreda near Yirga Cheffe, Ethiopia. At the time I was drinking this coffee from Onyx I was also sampling a washed Kochere from another roaster and the two coffees couldn’t have been more different. This is what is so cool about coffee! You can purchase this coffee for $18.25/bag at Onyx Coffee Lab.

Disclaimer: This sample was sent to KCcoffeegeek at no charge by Onyx Coffee Lab. Onyx is not an advertiser nor is this, or any other, review a paid one. The complimentary coffee did not affect the outcome of this evaluation.

You can’t throw a rock without hitting a roaster who is cooking up natural Ethiopian coffee right now! As one may expect, there is a lot of sweet blueberry in this Yirg Kochere from the dry bean aroma and grounds to the coffee in the cup! I drank this coffee three ways: espresso, Gino dripper (basically Kalita Wave 185) and AeroPress. As always you can find my parameters in the link beneath my logo at the top of the page.

This coffee is definitely a jammy, berry example of an Ethiopian natural. It is sweet but not too sugary. As a drip coffee it has a bit of an edge surrounding that blueberry fruitiness, and it has a mouthfeel and slight dryness on the palate not unlike black tea. There are even notes of tea in the flavor itself.

The coffee is pretty much the same from the AeroPress except it takes on a little more brightness in the acidity. At the same time I felt like the cup was a little smoother from the press, but the overall blueberry bomb was still in effect!

The berry theme carried over as espresso, too, although it was more of a general berry jam flavor than specifically blueberry. There is a good amount of acidity in this single origin espresso and a West Coast 3rd Wave fan would appreciate the heck out of this shot. There are fruity dark chocolate notes in the finish and the aftertaste lasts a long time. About 5 minutes after I drank this shot I had distinct flavors of black cherry on my palate still!

This Yirg Kochere is a good example of a typical Yirga Cheffe natural coffee and Onyx did a great job pulling out the flavors in the roast. It’s versatility across multiple preparation methods is impressive! Make sure you read tomorrow’s review of Compelling & Rich’s Kochere, which is a washed coffee from the same region with a totally different flavor profile thanks to the different processing!