The cups less traveled

Written By Wade Ellis

When someone asks my favorite single origin, Colombia always comes to mind. Those bright and citrusy little bombs of complexity have always been a safe place for me. I’ve had more great cups from Colombia than anywhere else on earth—but I’ve had more coffee from Colombia than anywhere else—and it’s not even close. 

Looking back at my top coffees over the last three years, the best are from origins I knew little about. Two years ago, I snagged a Congolese coffee off of the rack at Sey that blew me away. I’ve had coffees I would describe as juicy, but never anything like this. The first sip I took reminded me of that first bite into an almost overly-ripe pear where the entire fruit seems to explode—frankly creating a big mess. To this day, it’s one of only three coffees of Democratic Republic of the Congo I’ve tried—but it’s the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had. 

My favorite 2023 coffee was a Bolivian you’ll hear me talk about more a little later in this newsletter. I originally heard about it through one of Julian at Coffee Reviews videos. It was my first experience with Luminous and they couldn't have set the bar any higher. It was everything I want in a Gesha, but with a sweetness that’s not always present. It was the type of coffee that I buy for friends every single time they have it as an offering.

And so far in 2024, September is leading the way with a Ecuadorian Mejorado from, who else but, superstar producer Pepe Jijon and family. Just a year and a half ago I was extremely unfamiliar with coffees from Ecuador, but Pepe and crew have created a #wallstreetbets level rise to the region making it a much more common name amongst coffee origins. 

With so many standout coffees from unexpected places, I wanted to see what else might surprise us. So, I asked a few coffee friends which overlooked origins they’re loving.

Justin - Genre

Yemen. One of the reasons is from growing up in the south and eating muscadine grapes. I've had a classic traditional grape profile from Ethiopian and also tasted plenty of that grape co-ferment taste but Yemen coffee is the first coffee I ever had that tasted like muscadine grapes specifically, helping make it the most complex cup I’ve ever had. 

If you cup or just buy a lot of good coffee these profiles inevitably repeat themselves but Yemen has its own distinct thing going on just like most other origins but I just don't get to drink them a lot so they are a treat.

Michael - Genre

Super into Indonesian coffee 

Indonesian coffee is often under-appreciated in the global specialty coffee market. Unlike more widely recognized origins like Ethiopia, Colombia, and Brazil, they tend to fly under the radar, mostly due to a lack of marketing and accessibility issues.

Indonesian farmers are big into taking risks in experimenting with different processing methods. This leads to coffees coming out with much funky and exotic cupping notes. While keeping that bold full body flavor Indonesian coffee is known for.

My first Indonesian coffee I had was back in 2021. From Black & White coffee roasters. The coffee was an Anaerobic Natural from Producer Jakub Lazuardi & Cikole Estates.

The cupping notes were Mulled wine, cocoa nibs and candied Strawberry . 

One of the most complex coffees I have ever had to date.

Zack - Bold Bean 

We’ve had some really incredible coffees from D.R. Congo the past couple of years. I think Congolese coffees are both underrated and underrepresented. The flavor profile of great coffees from DRC has similarities to other Central/East African coffees like Rwanda and Burundi (citrus, black tea, pie-like spices, high acidity and great complexity)but we’ve also seen similarities to coffees from Yirgacheffe in Ethiopia, concentrated stone fruit notes like peach, nectarine and apricot along with floral notes like jasmine, plumeria and citrus blossoms. DRC has historically been known for blender coffees and robusta but it clearly can turn out some incredible coffees.  Ethiopia and Rwanda are two of my favorite origins and the Congolese flavor profile showing components of those two origins is super delicious.  And the fact that specialty coffee has relatively recently gained a foothold in the country is super exciting for the future of coffee coming out of the country. 

Jacob - Airworks Coffee

I think my pick would be Rwanda. Of the "main" African producing countries, I hear it mentioned the least. It also has some stigma against it with the potato defect. But I love Rwandan coffees. When they're done well, they turn out delicious.

Julian - Coffee Reviews 

I believe Bolivia is one of the most underappreciated coffee origins. While Bolivian coffee is often overshadowed by Colombian, Ecuadorian, and Peruvian coffees in discussions about South American coffee, I’ve found it frequently exceeds expectations compared to its regional counterparts.

Chris - Bad Mother Coffee

It's not a sleeper with coffee folks but Ethiopian coffee is my pick. Sidama, Guji, Yirgacheffe and more all kill it. 

The reasons:

  • The coffee grows semi-wild or completely wild.

  • No where in the world has as much biodiversity with over 60 distinct varieties. 

  • It's widely considered the birthplace of arabica coffee.

  • The production is a communal and collaborative effort within the remote villages there. 

  • Many producers transport the cherries across long distances by donkey or mule, using dirt roads to reach the washing stations.

  • This relationship combined with favorable conditions / soil, leads to excellent quality, without the use of pesticides and fertilizers.

  • From an objective standpoint with taste – imo the inherently spectrum of fruit-forward flavors and balance is unmatched. 

  • Many of the washing stations operate with very little water usage (comparatively to other countries) and have great attention to detail when it comes to exploring natural and anaerobic processes.

I often meet other owners and customers that had the a-ha moment when they first tried Ethiopian coffee. It's one of my main inspirations for getting into specialty coffee, owning a shop and it simply changes perspective on what coffee can taste like.

Steven - Zap Cat Coffee

I really have been enjoying Mexican coffees. They’re getting more hype now but forever I feel like specialty coffee ignored them a lot. I’ve had so many insanely sweet, clean and vibrant cups from Mexico in the last year.

Our reviews aim to do things a little differently, starting with using the Gabi for every brew—a method we talked about on Monday. Secondly, we want to track that prime one to two-week period when a coffee is at its best, showing you how the coffee evolves over its lifetime. We score each cup from zero to ten: zero for undrinkable and potentially deadly, ten for an impossible masterpiece. By our standards, a score above 7 signifies a damn good coffee.

Using the tasting wheel to track and explain each coffee’s flavor profile. Each ring from the center out is a point on a five point scale. For example, on our first tasting wheel, we scored this cup a 5/5 in Clarity and Florality, and 4/5 in Finish, Citrus, and Savory notes.

I sit and write this review sipping on the final 15g from this bag and it’s still exceptional—on day 47. While it’s not my favorite cup of the year—the 2023 title went to its ‘younger sibling’—this one still holds firm in my top five. This is the kind of coffee I want to brew for anyone I’m lucky enough to share a morning with. It’s the kind of coffee that makes you wonder if Colombia is truly your favorite origin—or if Bolivia’s been the one all along.

Wade Ellis
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