Comments on: loquacious brag week: crema’s sidamo korate (hint: HOLY SCHNAIKES)

By: bz

bz — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:21:36 +0000

nano: i actually have the korate washed, and have yet to roast much of it. any tips appreciated.

not familiar with the import specifics. interesting. do you know the story behind korate in general? asked peter g at the party this week, and he didn’t know the narrative. the farmers, the pedigree, the way it came to be discovered.

90 plus is joseph brodsky, from novo, i believe. initially lived in the country, sourcing only the stars, continues the same from a slightly different position. i think. (not direct info.) maybe you knew this.

background on this:
http://www.chemicallyimbalanced.org/2007/01/24/scraping_the_ground_s/

overall, i’m fascinated by the geopolitical and market influences in ethiopia that you touched on. a rare african country with a fairly stable government (my family lives in a highly unstable neighbor country) and yet an entrenched, distinctly african (and definitely corrupt) system of handling its coffee that would seem to have resisted american attempts to build a lot of direct relationships, efficient sourcing structures, etc.

this amuses me, because i’m distinctly familiar with such staunchly held, nonsensical (to a capitalist) views on how farming/selling/planning/exporting is done in chad (my folks’ home).

anyway, peter g illuminated this for me this week and i briefly referenced it in the sept. 19 party post. it’s a fascinating, and somewhat distinctly ethiopian, dynamic that seems to affect what we get, and when and how.

By: Nanofish

Nanofish — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:04:46 +0000

Yeah I saw the scores… and not that it means much but I gave Korate a 92 but my understanding the coffee being offered as Korate by Crema and a few other roasters is a coffee that came in from a importer called Royal in new york, and is not the same coffee that was in the 2008 Limited auction. Still if I am right– once again the non Limited auction Korate is killer. I got tons of interesting fruits and spices in it. One of the things that seems to be a trend this year are all the great naturals I have tasted (with the exception of Bagersh coffees) all have been coming from Sidamo. Just amazing stuff. Also I believe no coffee from Bagersh..ie Beloya, or Idido Misty Valley has come in so far this year. I hear an importer called 90 plus is flying in some Microlots from Aricha and Beloya that are just out of this world. I guess the story with Ethiopia this year (just like last year), is even though the coffee was harvested basically 7-8 months ago a lot of it has yet to hit the states–tons of shipping delays. So I can’t wait for the surge of Natural and washed coffees to hit the selves. Oh as a side note the Korate washed is also a killer coffee.

By: bz

bz — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 04:00:11 +0000

nanofish: i’ve had counter culture’s biloya, and it was indeed a treat. definitely cleaner, i’ll give you that.

what wows me most about the korate is that there’s a full complement for the blueberry. husky tobaccos, pleasant yeasts, spicy undertones and more savory fruits that completely surround the central berry aromas.

also, did you see the biloya vs. korate scores?

the original page is down. here’s the cached version:
http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:L4UyM-JGMLQJ:www.ethiopialimited.com/auctionlotdetails/+ethiopia+auction+lot+details&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=safari

By: Nanofish

Nanofish — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 02:26:09 +0000

Korate is a hell of a coffee. I tasted it earlier in the year and yes it scores well into the 90’s. However….Beloya will handily destroy it on any tasting table. In particular Biloya Lot #10. Better prep, more intensity, cleaner and just a better coffee. Still Crema picked one of the best Naturals of the year for sure.

By: bz

bz — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:31:37 +0000

look, helfen, you either sing the wonders of korate or you can forget stopping by the bloghouse wednesday.

oh, wait. not much of a threat, there.

i hope this makes sense about the korate: it’s not the blueberry bomb of many other dry-processed ethiopians. in fact, i’d give it more of an adventurous arc overall … which only heightens the appreciation of the berry, if that is coherent.

in other words, my reaction to other ethiopian DPs is often, “wwuuuaaahaaa, blueberry!” this is more like, “whaaa? holy sweet lovely fruitedpiecrustsmokysyrup wonder. and the BERRY!”

anyway. you’ll see.

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:33:12 +0000

I’m all about playing around with some Ethiopian naturals as espresso. It’s a wonderful glorious fulfilling world.

However…. i hate to say it, but i don’t have much of a stomach for it as regular (french press, drip, etc) coffee. It’s a bit much for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s super exciting and fun to cup, but i don’t like my coffee tasting like it was blended with blueberry in the morning.

By: bz

bz — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:51:20 +0000

the espresso and regular roasts have been consumed.

do you buy directly from kevin?

one thing i’ve noticed — lots of inconsistent, lighter-roasted beans in there. i might try culling them, then comparing.

it’s a good thing someone knows this coffee.

By: Wilson Hines

Wilson Hines — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:54:56 +0000

I have been screaming about this stuff for months on my blog and person to person. Nobody seemed to listen.
Kevin is a true artisan.
I sit here this morning sipping on his Guat Finca and I am about to load the Mazzer up with his espresso.
Look, if you really want your socks knocked off, try the Korate as an espresso.