Coffee Review: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Aylele from Wandering Goat Coffee Company

Mr. Aylele

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Aylele
Wandering Goat Coffee Company
Varietal: Heirloom
Process: Washed and Sun Dried
Flavor: Round, juicy and sweet with lemon, lime and floral flavors.

When sitting down to write my first coffee review it seemed only suitable to start with the coffee roastery I work at.  Of course I stand behind our beans as being some of the best (and underrated) coffee in the Pacific Northwest, but I also think that our coffee roaster has a unique ability to roast precisely for each and every type of coffee bean, as opposed to just sticking to predetermined roast profiles.  Not one coffee roasted at the Wandering Goat is simply put into a roast profile and considered finished.  Each batch of coffee is cupped for taste and adjusted from there.  The idea behind our roasting philosophy is to get each and every unique flavor from the individual batch of green beans.  As with wine, we are more interested in showing the unique terroir while still creating an amazingly drinkable cup of coffee.

The Eithiopia Yirgacheffee Aylele is a prime example of highlighting terroir while still encompassing a coffee you can drink over and over.  Coming from Cafe Imports, this batch of Ethiopian coffee is a bit more unique because it is what is considered a micro-lot.  While the majority of coffees we source are small batches from small farms, it is more uncommon to have a coffee come from only one farm in East Africa.  This is due to a variety of reasons including smaller farms, economic stabilitiy, and the ease of joining in successful co-op's.  As you can see from the Cafe Imports website, these types of farms are much more common in Central and South America, but it becomes much more rare to have a farm specific coffee from an Ethiopian farm.  While this farm is still a member of the YCFCU co-op, this batch of beans has been set aside as a unique micro-lot.  In fact, this coffee is specific enough that is is named after the producer, Aylele.

Now let's get to the coffee!  I made this coffee in two ways.  First I tasted it after being made in Vacuum Pot, and then I tried a "standard" cup made in a Fetco drip brewer here at the Wandering Goat.  Both offered a different take on what I found to be a delicious coffee.

Typically, an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is known for it's lemon and citrus qualities.  On my first taste, I would certainly notice lemon, but it was mingling so well with the sweet chocolate tones it immediately reminded me a sweet lemon cookie.  This is a coffee that I believe it would be a sin to put cream and sugar in, as the sweetness is already so prevalent that I highly recommend it first be enjoyed on its own.  As the coffee cooled, more of the sweetness faded away to a more floral chocolate flavor.
The body is light and refreshing.  Again, I really don't believe this coffee needs anything added to it as it is such a pleasure to drink.  The light body adds to the sweet citrus notes and almost borders on a tea-like quality at times.  Especially when the coffee cooled I noticed more of an Earl Grey like aftertaste, which is not uncommon to have a Bergamot flavor in a coffee such as this.
The only thing stopping this from being a 9+ coffee is really nit picking.  I thought they aroma was a little underwhelming for such a flavorful coffee, but partly that is due to the delicate nature of the Yirgacheffe.  While aroma isn't generally a make-or-break aspect of coffee, it is still an aspect that many people react to immediately and is worth noting.

Taste: 9.5/10
Body: 9/10
Aroma: 8.5/10
Overall: 9/10

So hopefully you enjoy this coffee as much as I did.  Ordering should be available online as well, with a new website due to be finished by the holiday season.
And have no fear, the next reviewed coffee will be from a different coffee roaster, I promise!

Vacuum Pot Review and Directions

There are a lot of interesting ways to make coffee out there and some of them can tend to be pretty kitschy and not actually impact the coffee in a significant way.  I had heard good things about the coffee that a vacuum pot produces, but part of me was still skeptical.  The process seemed unnecessarily fragile (in terms of breaking equipment) and I was worried that the coffee wouldn't be strikingly different enough to warrant such a risk of breaking glass equipment.

Of course, this ends up being a pretty major deciding factor for a lot of coffee drinkers.  Why go through the terror of lightly knocking your French Press glass into oblivion when you could have a plexi glass or plastic Clever or Melitta for home use or camping?  The advantages are clear, but if you really enjoy the style of coffee you get from a French Press, the risk may be worth it.

That brings us to the Vacuum Pot.  Not only does it have more fragile glass to break than a French Press, but it requires a bit more careful operation to not break the glass during the actual brewing itself.  However, I have to say that there is a significant enough taste difference that the Vacuum Pot holds a valuable place in the lineage of coffee equipment.

Does this mean that you need to throw away all your previous coffee equipment and run out and purchase a Vacuum Pot?  No, not at all.  In fact I think that the coffee produced is interesting enough for someone who is really into coffee, but I would have trouble recommending it to the every day coffee drinker.  For most people, whatever method they have at home to brew coffee is good enough for them and I don't think that tasting a cup made from a Vacuum Pot will make you change your method.  But for those of us who must push coffee to its limits, the coffee made from a Vacuum Pot is noticeably different from anything else I've had.

After trying a coffee made from a Vacuum Pot, I was impressed by how easy it was to distinguish the subtle flavors of the coffee from each other.  Whereas drinking a cup made from a standard Fetco brewer or pour over can highlight certain aspects of a coffee, I found that each and every flavor was brought out individually through the Vacuum Pot.  The cup itself is very clean tasting while still having a nice heavy mouth-feel.  Some reading from Sweet Maria's recommends using a bit more coffee if you think it's "too weak" due to how clean the cup is however I really enjoyed the smooth, clean taste.  Again, I recommend the Vacuum Pot to those into coffee as more than just a morning beverage but have trouble recommending it to those who are simply looking for a new way of brewing your morning coffee.

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How to make a Vacuum Pot:
You will need:

• Your Vacuum Pot
• A heat source
• Fresh coffee
• Fresh water (filtered always recommended)
• A stir stick/spoon
• Scale (optional)

We are using a HARIO Syphon Vacuum Coffee Maker in the 3-Cup size.

1) We weigh out our water to be safe.  We use around 230 grams of water (around 8 ounces), which on our Vacuum Pot goes right up to the "2 Cup" mark.  Use hot water as to avoid a long heat up time.  A general rule of thumb is about 7-8 grams of coffee for 4 ounces of water.

2)  Grind your coffee.  For this we use around 14.5 grams of coffee.  It is always highly recommended to use a conical burr grinder to get the best results.  We decided that a medium to fine grind works well for us, however it is recommended you try different grinds to get the results you want.  You should grind as fine as you can without clogging the filter.  Place the coffee in the top piece of the Vacuum Pot, with your filter already in place.  Shake the coffee so that it falls evenly across the bottom.

3) Pour the water and place it over the heat source.  We start our Vacuum Pot at a pretty high heat while the water is heating up.  The reason for this is because once you start to get the water rising into the top chamber, it should happen relatively quickly.  

4)  Once the water starts to seep into the top chamber, lower the heat and start your timer.  Ideally steep time once the water is in the top chamber should be around one minute.  Don't worry about how many bubbles there are, this is simply vapor and not boiling water.  Also, there will always be a small amount of water left in the bottom, as it is part of the vacuum process.  It is also recommended to give your coffee a little stir at this point in order to make sure all the grounds are saturated.

5)  Once you have steeped your coffee for about a minute, remove the heat source.  After a few seconds, the temperatures will normalize and the coffee will recede back into the bottom chamber.  If this process is taking longer than 30 seconds to a minute, you should probably make your grind a little coarser.  

6) Pour and enjoy!  Most likely, the coffee will seem "weaker" than you are used to at first.  This is simply the clean tasting coffee which you get from the Vacuum Pot.  If you want a stronger taste, try experimenting with things like a finer grind or more coffee.

Who I Am

My name is David Buzanski.
I have lived in Eugene, Oregon for about seven years now.  I have worked in coffee shops most of my life.  I now work at the Wandering Goat Coffee Company, which is a small family owned sustainable coffee roastery specializing in sourcing and roasting the finest coffees available.
Since working here, I have undertaken many different jobs and responsibilities.  I am the barista trainer which also includes training any of our accounts as well as new employees.  This includes not only skill building but also cafe efficiency on a general level.  I have blended, bagged, and delivered our coffees all over town, building relationships with accounts.  I am trained on working on and repairing most coffee equipment including espresso machines, grinders, and drip brewers.  More recently I have started the journey into coffee roasting itself, spending time on a San Franciscan SF-1 sample roaster in anticipation for moving onto our Loring S35 Kestral.  This has been some of the most rewarding work as coffee roasting has been an aspect of coffee I have been interested in since I have been in the coffee world.
During all of this time, I have been reading and researching about coffee and I finally feel like I have enough valuable information that I can be a some what of a resource for coffee related questions.
I started PNWCL as a way for me to continue talk about what I love: coffee.  Enjoy the blog and do not hesitate to ask any and all questions, from professional barista level to home coffee making.

David Buzanski
PNWCL