Malamig Brew Episode 5: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Arabica Cold Brew Review — Allo Coffee Roasters
The most expressive bean of the season — fruity, floral, and unlike anything before it
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Arabica (Cold Brew)
This is amazing. I love this journey that I’ve been on. The arc of it all is kind of incredible.
We started with a baseline. Then explored two Philippine single-origin Arabicas and noted the differences between them. We moved globally to Brazil—still Arabica, but inoffensive, safe, easy. And today… wow. This is the opposite.
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe is so expressive.
I even took a photo of the beans when I opened the pack last night. They were the smallest coffee beans I’ve ever seen. In my mind: small beans mean they took more time to develop, which usually means more developed fruity and floral notes. And yes, that’s exactly what happened here.
Even before brewing, the beans already smelled different. Just from the roasted beans alone, you could tell this was something else. The aroma was unique. So I was already excited for the tasting this morning.
No chocolate notes at all. Everything I’ve tasted so far had cocoa, milk chocolate, or at least some toastiness. This has none of that. It’s straight up fruity and floral. More fruity than floral, I think.
It’s hard to describe the fruit because it’s not something common. I just know it’s fruit with a bit of musk. I keep catching jackfruit.
The fruitiness and floral hints are present throughout—from aroma, to body, to finish—but they’re most expressive toward the end. It starts strong because you really smell it. Then it becomes an easy drink, almost tea-like. No beefiness. No heavy body. No coating. There’s a clean bitterness, not the usual coffee bitterness, but from something like dried wild herbs. And then it sticks the landing.
The flavors linger. You get more of that fruitiness much later in the finish, almost as an aftertaste. Very, very interesting.
Is it my favorite so far? I’m not sure yet. I’ll see by the end of the day. My initial instinct is that it’s not my favorite, but it would be really interesting in a coffee blend, or even in a mixed drink. I also think it would be interesting as a latte. We’ll try that this weekend.
But overall, I’m just really happy with this arc and this journey.
