Rate the Drip 2023

09 Nov 2022

The second season of Rate the Drip has kicked off.

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: 1g to 16ml
  • duration: 90s steep and circa. 60s filtration

Reviews

The all time drip ladder so far is here.

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

Black Diamond Panama Elvira Geisha Washed

  • Light Roast, Tea and Mango, 55¥/100g
  • Flavor: 7 Driven by a flower-scented tea feel, hints of tropical fruit sporadically tease around.
  • Aftertaste: 6 Misses some twist to make it a great drip, but solid overall.
  • Texture: 5 Agressive texture and very hard to control when brewing.
  • Aroma: 8 Refreshing herbal tea aroma overall. Then a feel of tropical beach breezes through and makes everything else less important.
  • Summary: Almost a pure perfume.

MQ Ethiopia Sidama Dawencho 74110 Natural COE#2

  • Light Roast, Orange and Strawberry, 41.5¥/100g
  • Flavor: 7 Seasoned fruit overall. Pleasant sweetness and well balanced. Orange and some hidden note of strawberry.
  • Aftertaste: 6 Nothing beyond expectation, but stays smooth along the way. The strawberry touch strengthened.
  • Texture: 7 The hambela-like fruity mix should have an advantage with texture, and it doesn’t disappoint.
  • Aroma: 7 Joyful fruit aroma, consistent with the flavor.
  • Summary: Best fruity mix so far.

MQ Ethiopia Sidama Tamiru 74158 Slow Dry COE#5

  • Light Roast, Berry, 30.5¥/100g
  • Flavor: 6 Balanced in general, while some fruit sweetness bounces around here and there.
  • Aftertaste: 6 Guava-like sourness twist.
  • Texture: 7 Surprisingly mature and balanced texture out of a light roast without compromising too much flavor.
  • Aroma: 6 Berry aroma consistent with its flavor.
  • Summary: Smooth daily-driver.

MQ Ethiopia Guji Buku Abel Natural

  • Light Roast, Citrus, 30.4¥/100g
  • Flavor: 7 Powerful, kaleidoscopic fruit sweetness, great choice to start a workday with.
  • Aftertaste: 6 The fruity first-touch develops fast, but a bit too transient.
  • Texture: 6 Lacks body, but overall balanced and easy to control.
  • Aroma: 6 Tropical aroma, consistent but shallow.
  • Summary: An all-rounder in the hambela category.

MQ Ethiopia Geisha G1 Natural

  • Light Roast, Tea and Honey, 23.7¥/100g
  • Flavor: 6 Honey tea flavor overall.
  • Aftertaste: 7 Very good development after the tea touch. Seasoned fruit sweetness emerges, and persists like forever.
  • Texture: 5 Balance is lacking.
  • Aroma: 6 Average tea-like aroma. More powerful aroma indeed from the beans, but not enough for that extra point.
  • Summary: Works fine as a introducer to the geisha world.

Counter Culture Apollo Blend

  • Light Roast, Citrus, 3.4$/100g
  • Flavor: 6 A comfy combination of fruit and flower.
  • Aftertaste: 6 Sweetness takes over but doesn’t hold for too long.
  • Texture: 7 A well-composed blend indeed. Silky, balanced to perfection.
  • Aroma: 6 Lemonade and flower breeze through.
  • Summary: A quality blend but not that Ethiopian.

Counter Culture Hologram Blend

  • Medium Roast, Honey, 3.4$/100g
  • Flavor: 6 Balanced medium-density sweetness. No significant fruit or flower character.
  • Aftertaste: 6 Sourness grows after the drink gets cold, but the honey sweet lingers in the mouth for ages.
  • Texture: 7 Very smooth and likeable. You get a welcoming drink from almost all brew configurations.
  • Aroma: 5 Apparently the price to pay for this brew is the ancient wood aroma.
  • Summary: A problem-free daily-driver.

MQ Panama Santamaria Caturra Washed

  • Medium Roast, Brown Sugar, 16.7¥/100g
  • Flavor: 6 Sweetness in control, with some hint of orange.
  • Aftertaste: 5 No significant development. At least the balance stays.
  • Texture: 7 Excellent balance and body. Very hard to mess up.
  • Aroma: 6 Catching citrus aroma from the beans but underwhelming from the drip.
  • Summary: Nothing more than a safe choice.

MQ Papua New Guinea Baroida Arusha Natural

  • Light Roast, Plum, 16.1¥/100g
  • Flavor: 6 Signature sour-sweetness that resembles the other Arusha.
  • Aftertaste: 5 Still the sourness builds up and fails to impress, especially after cooling down.
  • Texture: 6 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: The more balanced Arusha, but still a bit too volatile.

 Coffee