Ethiopia Gogogu Dry Process

This beauty comes from Guji, a region with soaring elevations, an ideal climate, and soil so nourishing that it demands to be called "loam." It was processed by the Gogogu washing station, which oversaw a meticulous period of sun-drying, monitoring moisture, and turning the coffee at regular intervals to assure flavor uniformity. The results speak for themselves.

A great dry Ethiopian announces itself first in aroma, and this one does just that. It's the kind of bag that turns your grinder into a perfume atomizer, and that's just the olfactory fest's first act. The wet aroma is a rich tropical primer for the cup's most dominant note—Hi-C Tropical Punch. You catch this flavor in some of the best Ethiopian naturals, and, assuming you're a sane person who reduced his/her consumption of Hi-C juice boxes upon reaching adulthood, it's delightfully nostalgic.

Cooling accentuates the tropical tones, and lower temps bring out a supporting apricot note. The flavor expresses in thick, jammy fashion, making it more like a jar of preserves than the freshly plucked fruit. The final note is sweet cream. This one is part flavor and part mouthfeel, a silky decadent yin to the fruity notes' yang.

Bottom line: this is a knockout, fruit-forward brew that does justice to one of the coffee world's most celebrated origins.