Ethiopian beans with awesome packaging have arrived from the Dutch roastery Sprout Coffee Roasters. Vanilla Gorilla has a wonderful vanilla cream flavor, which is exactly why it earned its name. In addition to vanilla, you’ll detect the sweet freshness of black grapes and the wildness of peaches in your cup. The overall profile is sweet, bold, and beautifully playful.
The coffee comes from the Gedeb region of Ethiopia, from the Lalesa washing station. The rest of the process is handled by Ephtah Specialty Coffee, a company focused on high-quality coffee processing, a fairer approach to farmers, supporting women in the coffee industry, and reinvesting in local communities. It also helps farmers through quality premiums, second payments, and tuition support. In the package, you’ll find varieties collectively referred to as “Heirloom,” which is a blend of local varieties with great genetic diversity. It’s not a single specific variety, but rather a diverse group of traditional Ethiopian coffee trees. This is one of the reasons Ethiopian coffees tend to be so diverse, fruity, and unique in flavor.
The processing of this coffee is quite a journey! The cherries first undergo 9 days of aerobic fermentation in plastic barrels, meaning they’re exposed to oxygen. The coffee is then slowly dried for 13 to 18 days using the Slow Dry Natural method. Slow drying gives the entire process plenty of time and helps it proceed gradually and evenly. The long fermentation followed by slow drying is thus one of the most interesting parts of the entire lot.
- Elevation: 2,150–2,200 m above sea level
- Processing station: Lalesa
- Producer: Ephtah Specialty Coffee