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Coffee Brewing Details

Beans: Zambia Coffee, self-roasted

Equipment: Hand grinder, copper kettle, flannel filter

Grind Size: Adjusted to the minimum setting, then loosened by four notches

Water Temperature: 93°C (199°F)

The Brewing Experience

This session was long overdue. When Sister Ka handed me the beans, the bag was labeled "La Azotea." After checking online I initially assumed it was Guatemala Antigua — but on closer inquiry I confirmed it was actually Zambia coffee.

Managing Water Temperature

First, the water temperature. In earlier sessions I had never managed to hit high temperatures, and I suspected heat was escaping while pouring from the electric kettle into the copper one. To avoid that, I extended the kettle's spout down into the copper kettle to reduce the surface area of boiling water exposed to air. It worked well — the water measured right after pouring came in significantly hotter than before, which made selecting a temperature much easier.

The Brewing Process

Since this was a light roast, I decided to use a higher temperature. When the water had cooled to 93°C, I began the pour. During the initial bloom the grounds expanded very little, making it hard to tell when the bloom was subsiding, so I started pouring as the surface began to dry.

Perhaps it had been too long since my last brew. The pour was not very steady — my hand felt stiff and I often strayed from the path I intended. The other details have slipped my mind.

Tasting Notes

Finally, how did the coffee perform? By the roaster's standard: bright acidity. The first sip gives a rather bright acidity with subtle layers within it. My command of coffee vocabulary is limited, though, so I struggle to put those nuances into words.

As for astringency and off-flavors, there were essentially none. A notable trait was a faint sweetness in the finish, though not as intensely sweet as the Kenya AA I tried before. The two African coffees I have tasted so far share this profile — I wonder whether this is what people mean by "wildness."

Next time I will try a lower temperature to see how the sweetness changes.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Bright, fruit-driven African coffees like this one reward a careful pour, and if that profile appeals to you, FrontStreet's Yirgacheffe Gedeb Cooperative is a natural next step. Grown in Ethiopia and washed, it carries pronounced citrus, berry and floral aromas with a green-tea sweetness in the finish. Roasted light to medium, its acidity is soft and bright — much more like the natural sweet-sourness of fruit than anything sharp — which makes it easy to enjoy even for those new to pour-over.

For a more full-throttle fruit character, FrontStreet's Ethiopia Huakui is a standout. A natural-process coffee from Guji Hambella, it is dominated by tropical fruit — strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit and even lychee — with obvious sweetness and almost no bitterness. Smooth and juice-like going down, it is often described as the coffee that does not taste like coffee, and it may well overturn any fixed ideas you have about bitterness.