This Ethiopian coffee from The Naughty Dog roastery in Jílové u Prahy is an espresso that comes across as sweet, balanced, and very pleasantly fruity. The flavor profile features blueberries and ripe peaches, complemented by a smooth finish of milk chocolate. The resulting cup has medium acidity, so it remains fresh and juicy without tasting sharp or too light. The fruity notes gradually blend with the chocolatey sweetness, creating a rounded, smooth profile that’s enjoyable on its own or in a light milk-based drink. This is an espresso for anyone who enjoys Ethiopian coffees with more pronounced fruitiness but doesn’t want to sacrifice a fuller body and that familiar chocolate note. The natural processing also adds greater sweetness and a subtle jam-like character to the cup, without making the coffee feel heavy or overly fermented.
The coffee comes from the Worka region in Yirgacheffe and is processed at the Banko Gotiti station in Ethiopia’s Gedeo zone. Although the station is administratively located in Gedeo, its microclimatic conditions and the character of the coffees produced there place it within the broader Yirgacheffe region. The coffee cherries at the station are supplied by smallholder farmers from surrounding villages, who grow traditional Ethiopian varieties on small family plots alongside other crops. The coffee trees grow across a wide altitude range of approximately 1,600 to 2,300 meters above sea level. At higher elevations, the cherries ripen more slowly, resulting in a higher sugar concentration and more pronounced aromatics. It is precisely the combination of the high-altitude environment, native local varieties, and careful hand-picking that gives this coffee its sweet, clean, and fruity-chocolate character.
The coffee is processed using the natural method. After being hand-harvested, the ripe cherries are sorted and then spread whole on raised African drying beds, where they are slowly sun-dried. During drying, they are turned regularly to ensure moisture is released evenly and to prevent unwanted fermentation notes from developing in the flavor. The beans remain in contact with the pulp throughout the process, gradually absorbing sugars and aromatic compounds from it. As a result, the cup highlights blueberry sweetness, the juiciness of peaches, and a rounder body that transitions into milk chocolate on the finish. The result is a clean and elegant natural Ethiopian coffee that retains the typical fruitiness of Yirgacheffe while offering a sweet and very drinkable espresso profile.