Rate the Drip 2022

23 Jun 2022

Here are all coffee beans I shopped for pour-over coffee in 2022. I will give a try to rate and review them, all in once.

Criteria

Drinking coffee is a personal experience, so I have to do some research before putting everything into a numerical scale.

The descriptive criteria don’t judge if a coffee is good or bad, they describe the coffee’s traits or factual characteristics.

  • Roast level (which implies acidity): light, medium, dark.
  • Identity: One or multiple comparable tastes to define the coffee’s main identity.
  • Price: Price/performance ratio also has a say in the whole experience.

On the contrary, the evaluative criteria shows how much credit I give to each aspect of a coffee.

  • Flavor (30%): Are the flavor characteristics evident, pleasant and special?
  • Aftertaste (30%): Is the aftertaste durable and consistent over time? Does it have a pleasant twist?
  • Texture (30%): Body, balance, clean cup and other factors that contribute to the oral experience.
  • Aroma (10%): The nasal experience.

Setup

  • grinder: Mavo Wizard
  • steeper: Hario Switch
  • scale: Timemore Black Mirror 2
  • technique: water-first steep
  • coffee to water: 13g/210mL
  • duration: 90s (light roast) to 100s (medium roast)

Reviews

The drip ladder is here. The budget Gesha from Black Diamond is the clear winner. Two berry-flavored coffee resemble the art of balance and complete the podium for my 2022.

Following are the detailed reviews sorted by price in descending order.

Fisher Guatemala Finca Miramundo Gesha Washed COE#23

  • Light Roast, Berry, 64.4¥/100g
  • Flavor: 6 The berry-ish first touch is well balanced. Doesn’t match the diversity that a Gesha usually boasts though.
  • Aftertaste: 7 For a short period of time, a sweet note of tea, apple and passionfruit takes over and brings the experience to next level. However, the time window is so narrow and it’s all downhill from here.
  • Texture: 6 Quite good balance and mouthfeel at start, but a gust of sourness follows up when coffee colds down.
  • Aroma: 6 Mild aroma of tea and berry.
  • Summary: Underperformance against its price.

Black Diamond Colombia Finca El Porvenir Gesha Washed

  • Light Roast, Tea and Orange, 59¥/100g
  • Flavor: 8 Tea flavor in general, supported by colorful tastes of orange and jasmine. The first sips make a truly exceptional experience.
  • Aftertaste: 6 Nutty taste builds up over time.
  • Texture: 6 Good balance in the drip. Body is not very nice though.
  • Aroma: 7 Catchy aroma consisting of herb and honey from the beans and all the way to the drip.
  • Summary: Scoop of the year.

Fisher Brazil Daterra Yellow Bourbon Natural

  • Medium Roast, Nut, 38.8¥/100g
  • Flavor: 5 Solid flavor of nut and chocolate. Not much else to expect.
  • Aftertaste: 7 Crema feel. The fun part of the experience.
  • Texture: 6 Dense mouthfeel with good body. Clean cup is a bit lacking.
  • Aroma: 5 Mild caramel aroma.
  • Summary: Almost a dark roast.

Fisher Costa Rica Red Catuai Black Honey

  • Medium Roast, Berry, 33.3¥/100g
  • Flavor: 6 Solid berry flavor. Pretty standard medium-light.
  • Aftertaste: 7 Very consistent over time. Notes of grapefruit and mint make a brief cameo in the end.
  • Texture: 6 Solid balance and mouthfeel.
  • Aroma: 6 Mild aroma of grape and honey.
  • Summary: The master of balance.

Fisher Ethiopia Nansebo Natural G1

  • Light Roast, Tea, 27.8¥/100g
  • Flavor: 7 Dominant tea flavor. Wholesome and enjoyable.
  • Aftertaste: 5 Goes well until some sharp acidity steals the show after coffee cools down.
  • Texture: 5 Very aggressive mouthfeel towards acidity.
  • Aroma: 7 Enjoyable herbal aroma.
  • Summary: Herbal medicine.

Fisher Honduras Finca El Hormiguero Lempira Washed

  • Light Roast, Apple, 27.8¥/100g
  • Flavor: 5 Dominant apple and citrus flavor. Defected a little by acidic wood taste.
  • Aftertaste: 7 Woody taste diminishes over time as the note of sweet honey emerges.
  • Texture: 5 The mouthfeel as well as acidity is a bit too aggressive.
  • Aroma: 6 Mild flower aroma.
  • Summary: Exotic, but failed to impress me.

Fisher Maya Pour Over Blend

  • Medium Roast, Nut, 24.6¥/100g
  • Flavor: 5 Nutty taste without too much surprise. The blend weighs balance over exoticness.
  • Aftertaste: 6 Consistent across all temperatures.
  • Texture: 7 Good clean cup. Smooth mouthfeel and body. A nice drink for all occasions.
  • Aroma: 5 Weak aroma of grape and hazelnut.
  • Summary: Made to be error-free.

Fisher Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Worka Washed G1 (L)

  • Light Roast, Tea, 21.4¥/100g
  • Flavor: 7 Tea flavor decorated by fresh lemon. First impression is breezing.
  • Aftertaste: 5 Wheat dethrones tea very quickly, which brings a monotone aftertaste with a bit of astringency.
  • Texture: 6 Good clean cup but lacks a bit body.
  • Aroma: 6 Mild tea aroma.
  • Summary: A good choice for your first specialty coffee.

Fisher Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Worka Washed G1 (M)

  • Medium Roast, Peach, 21.3¥/100g
  • Flavor: 6 Very bland fruit flavor, mostly peach. Yirgacheffe at medium is not very exciting.
  • Aftertaste: 6 No huge evolvement. Leans on the verge between tea and fruit forever.
  • Texture: 6 Also lacks body but solid texture overall.
  • Aroma: 6 Enduring aroma from the beans but nothing out of the drip.
  • Summary: Won’t be remembered for long.

MQ Papua New Guinea Boka Arusha Washed

  • Light Roast, Tomato, 18.8¥/100g
  • Flavor: 7 Abundant tomato-like sour-sweetness. Pleasantly exotic.
  • Aftertaste: 5 Astringency amplified. It doesn’t build up from the amazing first impression, unfortunately.
  • Texture: 5 Dry and sharp. Just like when you swallow up too much tomato.
  • Aroma: 7 Dense aroma that usually comes from a deeper roast. I call it armors from ancient landlord.
  • Summary: Exotic, but too exotic for me.

MQ Rwanda Nova Red Bourbon Natural

  • Light Roast, Berry, 18.1¥/100g
  • Flavor: 6 Grape, blackberry. Pleasant dark fruit flavor overall.
  • Aftertaste: 6 Sweetness stands out over the course, but overall it’s pretty monotone.
  • Texture: 7 Excellent balance and mouthfeel. Body is event better. Quite impressive out of a light roast.
  • Aroma: 7 Interesting fruity aroma, the beans smell just like raisins.
  • Summary: Pumps out satisfaction day in and day out.

MQ Yunnan Pu’er Menglian Honey

  • Light Roast, Honey, 16.4¥/100g
  • Flavor: 6 Dominant sweetness, but it’s shallow and transient. I guess the anaerobic honey processing helped, but just a bit.
  • Aftertaste: 6 The sweet tone is stable and goes even stronger in the late stage, but definitely could use a bit more variety.
  • Texture: 6 Good balance but the clean cup is bad. A tiny woody feel is ever-present.
  • Aroma: 6 Refreshing aroma, however the weak strength corresponds to its shallow flavor.
  • Summary: Nothing to remember about this one, good or bad.

 Coffee