Here’s a quickie review of a small sample of Sunergos Chiapas I got from my Instagram pal, Bryan Schiele. If you follow any coffee folks on IG you’ve probably seen Bryan’s photos, and you should be following him (and Sunergos, and me, while you’re at it!). I only had 50g of this coffee that was dated 1/12 (presumably when it was roasted) from Bryan.
I prepared my sample using my usual notNeutral Gino pourover method of 30g coffee to 450g water with a total time in the 3:30-4:00 range. This Chiapas coffee from Mexico had an aroma of sugar cane with a hint of ashiness or char swirling around, too. The initial sip landed heavy on my tongue and I knew this was another nicely developed roast from Sunergos. It wasn’t quite like their PNG Waghi that blew my mind recently, but it was still a deep, sweet coffee.
This Chiapas had a nice syrupy body but in most coffees from this area I’ve noticed a dryness in the mouthfeel that I got from this one, too. In the past I’ve called that “astringency” possibly incorrectly. It’s sort of like a dryness on the palate after the sip and maybe a sense of the tastebuds tightening a little bit. In any case, this coffee and all the other Chiapas region coffees I’ve had seem to exhibit this, so it is something consistent I’ve noticed. It’s not a bad thing, but it does seem to offset the coffee’s sweetness a bit. In this particular cup from Sunergos it’s accompanied by a little char in the flavor, but I didn’t mind that, either.
I didn’t pick up much acidity in this coffee but there was a little “twang” as the cup cooled. I couldn’t associate the acidity I was getting with any particular fruit or flavor, though, as hard as I tried. Overall this cup balanced toward sweetness and the sugars in the coffee rather than the acids, though, for sure.
This was a solid, pleasant and easy drinker from Sunergos. If you’re a milk and sugar and/or flavorings kind of person I think this coffee would be a great base for whatever you want to throw at it.