We’ve come to the end of my samples of coffees from Hammerhand Coffee, so let’s start this week off with a solemn SLURP! Check it out…
Purchase this coffee for $15/12oz
Other reviews in this series: Ethiopia Tero Farm | Colombia Camino Real | Light of Eärendil espresso
HAMMERHAND COFFEE CO. BULAAGO MICROLOT
I’ve come to the end of the wonderful bunch of samples sent to me by one of Kansas City’s latest entrants into the roasting arena, Hammerhand Coffee Co. Hammerhand is actually located about 15-20 minutes north of Kansas City, in Liberty, MO. Hammerhand opened a few years ago as a multiroaster shop and then started roasting coffee in late 2018, or at least, offering and selling their roasted coffee to customers around September 2018. They’ve started the year with a fresh new website with lots of details on each coffee they offer, making it easier than ever to pick some winners and get them shipped to your doorstep.
This morning’s coffee is Hammerhand’s Bulaago Microlot. Like a lot of Ugandan coffee, this grows in the eastern part of the country on the slopes of Mt. Elgon, across the border from Kenya. Farmers in this area have been growing coffee for generations, and they are quite particular about keeping their coffee separated instead of mixing it together to sell as larger lots. The Bulaago Coffee Farmers Association operates a collection center that separates and stores microlots to allow for this. I’m not sure what the composition of this coffee is, but Bourbon, SL14 and SL28 are all commonly found around Mt. Elgon. This is a washed coffee and Hammerhand gives us tasting notes of, “Dark chocolate, dried mango, grape, hint of lime.”
I’m using my usual pourover setup of a 1:16 ratio of 22g of coffee to 352g of Third Wave Water in a Trinity Origin dripper with Kalita 155 filter. Grinder is a Knock Aergrind. I also use a Melodrip to control my pour. My process is to do a 44g pour to bloom, using Melodrip’s glass rod to make sure all the grounds get wet. Then I pulse pour through the Melodrip, bringing the pour close to the top of the filter and letting it drip almost to the top of the coffee bed before I pour again. Including the bloom, this coffee took 3:25 to brew.
Taking a sip, this is a sweet, mild-mannered coffee. I’m getting dark caramelized sugars in the sweet base of this cup as well as white grape. Toward the mid-sip and in the early aftertaste I’m picking up some hints of grape soda (I just bought some grape Zevia from the grocer yesterday, so maybe my mind is playing tricks on me?), too. This coffee has a medium-light body for me. If I hold the coffee in my mouth for a few seconds before swallowing I pick up more fruitiness and acidity. I’m getting some tropical notes, maybe pineapple but less tart than what I usually equate with pineapple notes in coffee, as well as some soft citrus acidity. This citrus isn’t quite lemon and it isn’t quite lime, but it has qualities of both, yet isn’t quite “lemon-lime” that I equate to more of that 7-Up or Sprite note I can get from a coffee. It’s good, though, which is what matters! LOL This Bulaago finishes sweet and has a tropical note to the aftertaste with grape and citrus lingering on my tongue. This is a delicious, straightforward, very easy drinking coffee, perfect for the start of the week on a Monday morning. Yum!