I can’t believe that it has been a full year since I last tried some Switchback coffee! I’m happy to see they still have those beautiful red coffee cherries printed on the insides of their bags because it makes me smile every time!
This is the Place I Was Telling You About cafe photos
SWITCHBACK COFFEE ROASTERS ECUADOR FINCA LA PAPAYA LIMITED RELEASE
Switchback Coffee Roasters started around 2010 and has since grown into a cafe in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado with their roastery attached. Reading through Switchback’s mission on their “our story” page, it’s clear that they value togetherness, community, celebrating diversity and differences and unity, and that’s a message I can get behind, too. It always strikes me how many roasters and cafes are out there because they want to build community and coffee is the vehicle to do that. Of course, those businesses have to approach the coffee itself with respect and artistry, but at the end of the day many people who get into coffee seem to do so because of people, not plants, and I kind of like that. I kind of like coffee, too, so let’s drink, but before we do that, check out the photo link above and see just how cool the cafe is. That full frontage of windows is gorgeous and has much more of an old-world vibe, from the outside, than I expected. Now that I’ve seen all the little details and touches in the cafe, thanks to R’el and Marcus’s photos, the little touches they make with their packaging, like an info card inside each bag and that beautiful in-bag cherry printing, makes total sense. OK, on to the coffee, I promised!
This morning’s coffee is a limited release from Switchback and I’m afraid it looks like it’s either currently out of rotation or sold out, which is great for them! As of just a week or two ago they still had the active page on their site, so I just missed it, apparently. Nonetheless… this is Switchback’s Finca La Papaya from Saraguro, Ecuador in the southern part of the country. This farm is owned by Juan Pena and this coffee is a washed Typica grown at 2100masl. Juan grew long stem roses, of all things, until about 5 years ago when weather destroyed all his crops and he made the decision to move into coffee instead. Switchback’s tasting notes for this coffee read, “intense florals like jasmine and tea rose, bright citrus notes of tangerine and candied lemon, all tied together with mouth-coating caramel in the finish.” Yum!
I’m using my standard pourover method of a 1:16 ratio of 28g of coffee to 450g of Third Wave Water in a notNeutral Gino dripper with Kalita filter. I use an Aergrind grinder and my cups were coming out at about 3:20-3:30, not including a 30-40 second bloom. There are some nice florals as well as a hint of lemon in the aroma from this cup. Taking my first few sips there is a base of caramel sweetness that sits on the center of my tongue as a lemon candy acidity surrounds it and hits the sides. Man, the acidity in this coffee is what this one is all about. Lots of lemon candy and a zippier lemon zest, but there is a little bit of roundness and sweetness I would associate with tangerine or maybe even blood orange. This is a medium bodied coffee that is super juicy and just begs for faster sips and bigger gulps! It’s hard to get past this absolutely awesome acidity, but there are a lot of florals in this cup, too. Rose is a good one, I definitely get hints of rose from this coffee, especially if I agitate the coffee and puff air out of my nose (retronasal tasting… you can impress your friends, now! LOL). There’s a slightly sweet finish to this coffee and it leaves a sense of sweetness coating my tongue, while the long aftertaste features a lot of rose and some hints of lemon. Switchback wasn’t kidding about this coffee… it’s SO good! I’ve only reviewed a handful of coffees from Ecuador and this is right up there with the best, from Ecuador and otherwise. Glorious!