We're beginning a new post series called Chemex of the Week. It will cover the coffees we're drinking or tasting here at the Joyride Office. These posts are designed for coffee drinkers of all experience levels, so if you are a true nerd, you will probably know some of the information. That being said, may highlight some good choices for your next Single Origin purchase.
The chemex of the day is Blue Bottle’s Three Africans. The story goes that three african brothers wanted to make a delicious brew of coffee so they took blueberries and chocolate and mixed them in a magic and...voila!
Yeah...I’m just messing with you. The actual naming is a bit more intuitively designed. Blue Bottle’s Three Africans is a blend of one Ugandan and two Ethiopian coffees. You can read up more precise information about the coffee from here.
I ground the beans (you want them to be of medium coarseness) and loaded them up in filter of the chemex. Here’s a nice little picture of that:
Four minutes later, a delicious pot of Three Africans with subtle wafts of fruit and chocolates arrest your olfactory senses.
What is a quintessential African taste? Most African coffees have fruity and/or floral notes, and they are known for their exotic flavors encompassing pineapple, jasmine, strawberry, banana, lemon, and many more!
These flavorful notes come from a method called “Natural Processing”. Natural processing is really simple, it’s the idea that coffee cherries are left out to dry on raised wooden beds. Then, once the cherries dry up (almost like raisins), the beans are stripped from their outer layers and shipped on over.
Natural Processing generally happens in Africa because of climate. It doesn't rain often (which is why cherries can be left out to dry), and its nice and sunny so that the cherries are exposed to an even dry.
Typically, coffees grown in the African area are described to have lots of acidity, a more heavy feel in the mouth, and intense, exotic flavor profiles. Some more refined Africans can have a more tea-like body, but you won't find that among naturally processed coffees.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next Chemex of the Day!
