THE ARMENO ROASTER IS ALWAYS SATISFYING

They do get the potential of the bean out beautifully. This is the coffee that will please you with its fresh bitterness, and sweet after taste.

SUPERB CUP OF COFFEE

Cup of Harrar is intricate with intense flavor of tropical fruit and berries. This round, full-bodied, medium to bold brew has a crisp, clean finish.

I COULD HAVE "BEAN" A CONTENDER

First Impressions

I went into my release valve sniff with mild anticipation, but the aroma was underwhelming. Pleasant, but faint, or muted. Upon opening and taking a stiff draft, more underwhelmedness. A peek in the bag told me these beans were less-than-fresh. Upon inspection I was able to make out faint traces of oils in small, shiny patches on the beans, and a fleck of chaff sticking to the bag-side led me to believe that they may have at least been roasted this side of New Years. This is a bit of a guess since there is no indication of roast date from what I have found (Armeno talks about fresh roasting/shipping on the bag), but these beans were past their prime compared to the fresh-roasted beans I'm accustomed to. I could only imagine what could have "bean"...

A matter of taste

By the time of this writing I have spent a good amound of time with the Armeno Ethiopia Harrar. I've made espresso with it, regular and stovetop, french press and high-test french press. I have had it straight on several occasions and used it as a base for several mixed concoctions as well. On the high-test side of tasting, again, I was underwhelmed. Making espresso and ultra strong french press is a good way to magnify the flavors, notes, and tones in coffee... However, if the coffee is not fresh, you have less flavor and aroma to work with unless it is darker roasted and/or charred (thankfully these beans were neither). If the aroma was generally light and a bit sweet, the flavor was not far behind, but the dead spots were hard for these preserved beans to overcome. If you consider that coffee loses much of it's inherent flavor (as much as 50%) within 14 days after roasting, so it was not surprising that the less-than-fresh Ethiopa Harrar, which is quite mild by nature was a little flat. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that the french press was a little kinder to these beans, and this makes sense. The press allowed for a better balance between the aroma and light tones, enough to make me appreciate the roast and the origin in a more favorable light. Again, I would have loved to try these beans a few hours out of the roaster, which is where I'm heading now.

About the Beans

Despite my criticisms thus far, there is a lot of good about these beans that brings my rating of them up to 4 beans (barely). I can't fault the beans, or the roaster for what happens after (warehouse, shipping, etc.), therefore I am giving special consideration to the beans themselves. I fully expect that if my batch had been a few days out of the roaster, my review would be 5 beans. I have roasted Ethiopa Harrar myself at home, so I am familiar with the bean, it responds best to a medium roast, charring these beans only serves to cover up their mild characteristics. Armeno did a wonderful job roasting this Ethiopa Harrar, uniform color and just the right shade, which makes me all the more dissapointed that they were less-than-fresh.

In a nutshell

Great beans, great roast, less-than-fresh...4/5 beans. Armeno is doing a lot of good things with beans, but there is no substitute for fresh roasted ones.

Bean Quality - 5/5

Roast Quality - 5/5

Aroma - 3/5

Flavor - 3/5

Freshness - 3/5

Total 19/25 - ~4/5