It's Acidity, NOT Sourness
Toast to the fresh, vibrant and crisp acidity in a pour-over of Ethiopia Sidama!
Why Ethiopia Sidama? That's because the acidity and sweetness in a light to medium/light roast coffee tends to be higher and stronger than its counterpart of medium to dark roast, and most Ethiopia Sidama Zone single origin coffees are light to medium/light roasted.(FYI, it's trendier😊)
At the third wave of coffee innovation we've been aware that on top of culture, flavor in coffee is what we are looking for, especially in drinking specialty coffee. The citrus, fruity acidic flavor is supposed to be pleasant, bright and comes with a hint of sweetness.
For me, sourness in coffee is totally no-no ❌ (unless you are in Europe and use the word sour as acidic) ; in contrast, acidity is a positive byproduct ⭕️ of roasted coffee cherries, and it notably appears at the beginning of the sip and at the aftertaste when drinking coffee.
To be honest, sometimes its easy to be confused sourness to acidity when the coffee is hot.
It becomes distinguishable when you sit a cup of coffee to the room temperature or cold brew it. What we expect to get at this moment is the appealing acidity, a nectar alike sweet aftertaste, nothing to do with the sourness!
You won't experience twitching or puckering when tasting a good light to medium/light roast coffee. The acidic sweetness in a good coffee should linger on your tongue with the tranquil yet ambrosial floral citrusy aroma, similar to the mix of berry🫐 and sugar cane🍬, or having the last bite of HI-CHEW 🍫.
My daily recipe for a pour-over Ethiopia Sidama: (revised)
18-20g drip or coarse ground coffee. (Depending on my mood on that day🌟)
300g water at 92-96℃ .
First, slowly pour in 40-50g water and wait for 30 seconds.
Pour 60g water at a time, and wait for 10-15 seconds each time (or about the time when you see no water puddle) until 300g water achieved.
* Control the maximum brewing time to 3 minutes and 30 seconds or less. ( I always finish brewing within 3 minutes)
It's easy and I always get the sweet brew I want.🤎
Café la Maison J.