Ethiopia - Megadu Lacto Natural - Lot D [25/26]

Tasting notes

In the roaster’s words

Bette Buna have spent this down-cycle year (with low cherry availability, staggeringly high internal prices and high cost of production including fuel scarcity) focusing on two things - processing value-add, and systems improvement, and it's from this focus we've selected our second release of the new season Ethiopians. This year's production included 4 pathfinder processing experiments. Lots A, B & C involved the inoculation of commercial yeast strains, but in lot D, they've left the endogenous wild yeast and instead inoculated with a lactic acid bacteria culture used for making sour beers. This lot absolutely jumped off the table with complexity, sweetness and acidity when we cupped it in Addis, and for that reason we air-freighted it ahead of the main Ethiopia shipment. The entirety of this experiment produced 30kg of exportable green coffee, so it's extremely limited stocks - get it while it's here Brew Guide: Best Brewed with: Filter/Espresso Lightest Roaster Influence: We've been tweaking round the edges on this one - we first approached it like we would a funkier coffee, dropping at a very low temperature and short development time. We've actually found it responded better somewhere between there and a classic natural, not needing to be handled with such kid-gloves. Best Rested: 4+ weeks Filter: 64g/L, 93°C when fresh, move down to 91°C with rest. Espresso: 18g/48g/18-22s. Excellent soup/turbo We’re tasting: Super fun candylike aromatics - bubblegum, foam sweets and tropical fruits. In the cup while hot it's super sweet and interesting, with heaps of tropical fruit (pineapple, guava, soursop, and mango) with a creamy lactic acidity - a bit like tropical yoghurt, with floral lavender & honeysuckle. As it cools we're finding the acidity becomes a bit more prominent, and the cup evolves to remind us of zippy rosé champagne, with flaked coconut and raspberry undertones. Belter! Traceability Country of Origin: Ethiopia Region: Megadu, Shakisso Woreda, Guji Producer: Dawit & Hester Syoum-Westerveld Farm: Bette Buna Megadu Variety: Wild Guji Megadu (local landrace), JARC 74112/74158 Elevation: 2000 - 2200 MASL Process: Lacto Inoculated Anoxic Natural: All the "Yeast Frenzy" lots followed the same protocol beyond the choice of inoculant, starting with extremely rigorous ripe cherry selection and sorting, before being placed in hermetically sealed barrels with the chosen starter culture. Lot D used the endemic wild yeasts present on the cherry skin alongside

Notes

Lacto inoculated anoxic natural Lot D from Bette Buna Megadu; extremely limited 30kg exportable green coffee produced and air-freighted ahead of the main Ethiopia shipment.