Ethiopia Refreshing Wush Wush

Strawberry Wine, Watermelon, Marmalade, Malted Grain

This wild-ride brew comes from Israel Degafa, one of the more esteemed producers in Ethiopia, and it's composed entirely of the holiest of holy varieties, Wush Wush. By now, most of you know what Wush Wush is, but for the one percent of you who don't, it's a rare coffee tree, indigenous to Ethiopia, that makes coffee geeks weak in the knees. The processing on this one gives the cup more fruit than a farmer's market and more funk than a disco. It's a bit boozy and a bit cocky, the kind of cup that spins heads in grotesque owl-like rotations. Best to drink with your chiropractor on speed dial.

What makes this cup so loud? Partly it's the Wush Wush variety, which is jam-packed with flavor, but it's also the processing. Ninety-six hours in anaerobic fermentation is no small thing. Consider for a moment what you can get done in a 96-hour timeframe. You might wake up, go to work, fight with your boss, consider quitting, get an email from me, only to realize that quitting will complicate funding your coffee habit—and then do it all three more times before 96 hours have passed. It's an intense stretch of days, and this lot spent every second of it collecting anaerobic vibes.

Strawberry wine looms large in this cup. It's sized like Jupiter, packed with fruit and booze tones, and about as discreet as a twelve-year-old with an airhorn. Heaping fruit onto fruit, watermelon shows up, sweet and juicy, approaching—yet not quite reaching—Jolly Rancher territory. A dash of marmalade comes next, midway between citrusy and jammy, and cooling brings roundness to the body. Finally, as though to guard against accusations of fruity one-dimensionality, the brew delivers a heap of malted grains. It's sweet and rich, a gateway to the type of heavy body necessary to ground all of those Mr. Toad's notes.