If you’ve gotten to this text having already read the flavour notes for this coffee, you might be wondering why such creative liberties were taken (in the words of our Head of Quality: ‘blue drink? what even is that?’). While it’s true that sourcing such a wild-tasting coffee can run the risk of alienating certain palettes, we at Caravan are lovers of coffee from across its vast flavour spectrum, we couldn’t resist bringing in this lot that is practically ultraviolet.

A coffee this unique could only come from one place: Ethiopia. As coffee’s birthplace the country is home to a diversity of flavours not found anywhere else on earth. The distinct terrior of each region, as well as the altitude, genetics, and advanced processing knowledge in Ethiopia mean that their coffees dominate the global specialty coffee market, winning taste competitions and gourmand accolades with unrivaled frequency. Adding to this award winning combination, Ethiopia specializes in two different processes, having perfected both washed and natural techniques. It is exceedingly rare in coffee to find a country so confident in both, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone – Ethiopians themselves drink more than half their coffee, and love it as much or more than we do.

This particular lot comes from the Boji washing station, in the Kochere region. Washing stations in East Africa serve as collection points for local farmers to deliver and sell their cherry, but also as helpful geographical markers, since the farmers closest to the station, following common sense, will tend to deliver there. The area around the Boji washing station is one of the highest growing regions in Ethiopia, with farms all the way up to 2300 meters above sea level. The colder nights here equal slower cherry maturation, giving the trees more time to produce sugar-laden fruits which translate into sweeter and more complex beans. 

BREWING GUIDE 

We are offering this coffee as a single origin espresso due to its unique concentrated fruit flavours, but it also makes an amazing filter coffee. With any naturally processed coffee, underextraction will often produce some sour or acetic flavours, so when in doubt best to slightly updose. We recommend a dose of 18 grams to 38-40 grams, with a total shot time of 31-33 seconds. For filter, a standard ratio of 1:16 on most brew methods will produce solid results.