Ethiopia Dry Process Sidama Shantawene

Dry process Ethiopias are perhaps some of the most complex coffees we carry, and this lot from Shantawene is a testament to that. My light City roast produced potent aromatics of winey and ripe fruits, and even some faint floral notes. The dry fragrance had fruited smells of canned dehydrated berries, dark fruits with wine-like accents, and an interesting note of strawberry yogurt. The wet aroma showed a very nice floral note on the break, like ripe blueberry, a sweetness like fruit preserves, with peach, and an intense sweetness behind it. At City and City+ roast, the fruits in the cup are pretty heavy handed, with flavors notes of strawberry jam, berry juice, stone fruits, and accents of fruity natural wines. The acidic impression has a refreshing quality, like fresh strawberries, that cuts through the complex cup profile and adds structure to the array of wilder fruit. A very attractive floral aroma comes through in light roasts, like sweet pea flowers, perfumed and fruited. Dark roasts don't tamp down on the fruit flavors completely, but they do bring out intense roast bittering that gets a little 'ashy' when taken to 2nd Crack. Lighter roasts were my personal favorite anyway, where vivid brightness seems to tie the wide range of cup flavors together.