September Coffee: Vivid Congo Hutwe and Other Friends

 VIVID AROMAS AND TASTE! 

Vivid for me is basically a "Missed Connections" success story. They sent me samples at the beginning of 2020 in an attempt to be a part of the retail coffee rotation at the Llama. I didn't even know they were sent to me until a fellow Barista texted me to ask if they could take them home as they needed coffee and I nearly said yes, as I was stressed about something else at the time, but my coffee instincts took over as I made sure to try every coffee sent to me to be polite. The coffees were outstanding, which can be rare for a random sample pack showing up. I immediately contacted the roaster/owner, Ian Bailey. We had a couple great runs with Vivid at the shop and then boom... Covid hits. Now, because of a couple of random occurrences taking place I am able to share the delicious coffees with the Coffee Club. 

1. Congo Hutwe

    Typically when the roaster describes a coffee as "lights out" that means I buy. This exquisite representation of the years of build-up and booming quality standards in Congo is by all means "lights out". The Hutwe washing station brings together cherries from many smallholder farmers ranging from 1500-1800 masl and consists of mostly Bourbon. Another variety known as Rumangabo is grown locally and is suspected to be mixed in with the Bourbon cherries. The Hutwe station is located near the eastern border of Congo, northwest of Burundi/Rwanda and just west of Uganda. The growing conditions here are great for Arabica with fertile volcanic soil, high altitude, and rainfall. The region however is extremely impoverished and for many years has lacked proper infrastructure for Coffee Production. This coffee is delicate. "Tea-like" as they say. I tasted notes of jasmine, caramel, and sour candy. I have a hunch it will make for a great espresso. I brewed this coffee on my v60 with a 15.5:1 coffee-to-water ratio, and ground it finer than typical African coffees because of the lower elevation. It was actually two clicks finer than the Kenyan coffee last month from Kafferaven. I poured two pulses following the bloom from 30-60 s, and then 75-105 s. The brew time ended up being 2:20. Next time I am probably going to pour wider circles to bring the fines down and extend the brew time to see if I can get more out of it. 

2. Colombia Albeiro Ramirez - Chiroso

    This coffee interested me because it is essentially a single-variety test of a new variety to me. The varietal is called Chiroso, which exists as a natural mutation to the more mainstream Caturra varietal. Producers in the Antioquia region discovered the cherries were different and that the resulting coffee tasted outstanding. The producer of this coffee, Albeiro Ramirez, has been experimenting with Chiroso and made sure to provide a sample to Vivid. Albeiro grows this coffee high up in the mountains bordering Medellin at 1900-2100 masl. This coffee has excellent sweetness with notes of vanilla, brown sugar, grapefruit, and a suggestion of peach. I brewed this coffee with a 16.5:1 ratio and used my longer brew time schedule. I ground it a couple clicks coarser, and poured four pulses. Each pulse was spaced 30 seconds apart following my 35 s bloom, so I poured each increment at 35 s, 65 s, 95 s, and 125 s. The final brew time was 2:50. 

3. Costa Rica Hacienda La Minita - Anaerobic Villa Sarchi

    When I asked Ian about the current lineup, knowing the Congo was in stock, he told me that he just received six Costa Rican microlots with all different varietals and processing methods to which I replied, "Holy Shit.". I really contemplated switching up the entire format this month and repackaging all six of them in smaller quantities for people to try but honestly that sounded like an awful laborious task. So instead, I chose the most unique one. This is a washed anaerobic coffee from Tarrazu, grown on the flagship farm for La Minita. La Minita is actually a global coffee importer, and this farm in Costa Rica is a place where they can experiment with varietals and processing. The anaerobic part will speak for itself in this unique coffee, but the Villa Sarchi varietal is one of my absolute favorite varietals because of it's clean, crisp flavor profile. This is an intensely sweet and fruity cup, reminiscent of the best juice ever (mango nectar; don't fight me). I also detected a slight earthy tone in the cup but it could be the way I brewed it. This coffee is clean yet a thick, heavy body coats the palate. I brewed this coffee with a 16:1 ratio and I used a finer grind setting than a typical starting point. Finer than the Congo listed above by about two clicks on my Wilfa grinder. I poured three pulses following the bloom from 35-60 s, 70-95 s, and 105-130 s. The final brew time was 2:40. 

Thank you for exploring the world of coffee with me. Until next month,

-Dylan