We’re back with another Loyal Coffee selection this morning, this time from Medellín, Colombia. Let’s check it out without further ado!
Purchase this coffee directly for $17/12oz
Loyal Coffee No. 50 – Mexico Jaltenango review
Sprudge Build Outs of Summer article
Colorado Springs Independent article
Rocky Mountain Food Report interview
LOYAL COFFEE NO. 73 – COLOMBIA MEDELLÍN
With links galore above, there is no shortage of stuff to read about when it comes to Colorado Springs, Colorado roaster and cafe, Loyal Coffee. Open since 2016, Loyal Coffee seems to have become an institution in Colorado Springs, serving coffee, cocktails and a food menu that gets rave reviews online. You can read all the details above, but the basic story is Loyal Coffee was founded by six local baristas all committed to the idea that coffee and cafe service is a means to build and foster community, which is the real goal. Very cool!
Jumping right to the coffee this morning, Loyal sent me their No. 73, a light roast from Medellín, Colombia. This is a mix of Castillo, Caturra and Colombia varieties grown by multiple producers around the city of Medellín. Altitude is between 1300-1650masl and these coffees are collected, washed, and then sun dried before being screened for size to improve consistency. Loyal Coffee gives us tasting notes of, “apple, molasses, hazelnut” for this coffee. I’m using my standard pourover setup of a 1:16 ratio of 22g of coffee to 352g of Third Wave Water in a Trinity Origin pourover vessel. I have all but the middle three holes blocked in the filter holder and I’m using Kalita 155 filters in it. Grinder is a Knock Aergrind. After a 30 second bloom, my brew this morning took 2:30 to complete.
Taking my first few sips I’m greeted by a lighter-side-of-medium bodied coffee with a sweet base that reminds of me of dark honey and light caramel. Unlike a lot of bright Colombian coffees that immediately have a flash of bright fruity/acidic notes, this one has a slower build for me. It’s all sweetness for the first half of the sip, then the high notes ramp up about mid-sip and reach a crescendo toward the finish of the sip. There is a bit of nuttiness underlying the entire sip. It’d be a stretch for me to call it hazelnut, but there is certainly a nutty component nonetheless. I wouldn’t call it almond or walnut, the latter of which I tend to associate with a dryness on my palate. There is a lot of green apple acidity in the second half of the sip and I get a little bit of a lemon hint in the finish, too, which starts up the aftertaste. The finish on this coffee is sweet but not cloying, and the aftertaste is sweet caramelized sugars, a hint of baking spices and an apple juice-like sweet and bright “residue” that sits on my tongue just like drinking apple juice would leave.
This is a great drinker. There’s enough going on that it gives me something to think about as I’m drinking, but it’s not so complex that I get any palate fatigue from it. It’s sweet and clean and finishes on the sweet side, encouraging the next sip, which is all too easy to go after. The body of this coffee seemed to thicken up and solidify a little as it cooled, giving it a nice medium texture and a smooth mouthfeel. This is a really nice coffee that comes off as refreshing in this hot weather we’ve been having and I think would be a great any-time-of-day coffee. A second winner from Loyal Coffee! Woot!