Hi All,

I've found I really enjoy Ethiopian coffee for it's fruity notes (e.g., cherry compote, strawberry, dark berry jam, blueberry, etc.). My favorites thus far are Red Bird's Sidama - Shakisso and Blue Bottle's Gikirima. The Gikirima (blackberry, marshmallow, and apricot) was truly my favorite, but alas the lot is done. I drip-brew with a Bonavita.

Any suggestions that would live up to, or be better than, those above? I usually try to stay in the $15-$20/bag price range, but would be willing to go a bit higher if it was worth it.

Thanks in advance!

I roast my own coffee so I can only really think in terms of greens, not roasted coffee.

If I were you, I would look for beans from similar regions. High elevation Africans. There are many amazing Kenyans and Ethiopians with the high acidity and fruity notes you speak of.

There are some alternatives you might enjoy, for example-

Bali Organic Kintamani Natural- ripe strawberry and sweet as hell. There was a Natty El Salvador I had a year or so ago, it was another in that vein of fruity and sweet. I also had a Uganda Organic RFA Bugisu that was very interesting, kind of a banana fruit. There may have been a Guatemala natty too, but I don't remember it exactly.

Some great Natty coffees out there and not always from Ethiopia. If you find the Bali it'll probably be as pricy as an Ethiopia, the Uganda was a sweet deal.

I suspect there will be more non-EP coffees from origins that have traditionally done EP because there is a possibility of increased value.

We are espresso only here for the most part, but I pull using "normally" roasted coffees:
I'm always throwing out Bodka Coffee in general, as that's 80% of my coffee these days. Since you mentioned Ethiopians I went through my bags and notes: Bodka's Ethiopia Misty Valley and Ethiopian Konga are both really nice.

I've pulled Bodka's Panama Geisha back to back with the Ethiopian Konga and fooled my wife with the blueberry of the Konga making her think it was the Geisha. Really nice beans.
Misty Valley's description is more along the tea, ginger, blackberry, but it's a favorite that gets on every order. Pulled right I can coax more fruity notes out of it, or pull it stronger and have a nice black tea note drink.

I also suggest Bodka. David has several Ethiopians most times...in fact, there are 4 available now.

Shipping to Philly is fast. I usually order on a Sunday, roasted Monday, at my house by Thursday. And, the prices are great.

https://www.bodkacoffee.com/store/c4/Ro ... offee.html

Embarrassingly, and surely to my loss, I have not tried David's/Bodka's beans...but plan to soon thanks to this thread!

sweaner wrote:I also suggest Bodka. David has several Ethiopians most times...in fact, there are 4 available now.

Shipping to Philly is fast. I usually order on a Sunday, roasted Monday, at my house by Thursday. And, the prices are great.

https://www.bodkacoffee.com/store/c4/Ro ... offee.html

Bought the Ethiopian Konga. Thanks all for the suggestions!

I put Bodka's Ethiopian Konga and Misty Valley on the list, does anyone have any thoughts on the other two Ethiopian's currently offered, Chelchele G1 and Dumerso G1, specifically when used as SOE? Or any of his other coffees to be used as espresso, I've been craving some fruit bombs lately.

I normally purchase about 7 different SOs when ordering from Bodka, and find that all their beans are pretty good. It's become our SOE of choice around here. Sometimes it's finding the temp on the pull, grind, load, etc to get the flavors out, but we've found most of the described flavors can come through on the pulls.

I haven't had all his beans, but the African varietals have all been tasty so far. Kenya & Rwanda are good.
American beans (north and south) definitely cover a wider range of flavors. Some aren't so great for espresso, others are like a comfort espresso all on their own, and others still are quite amazing. Get a few and try them out.
Guatemala Special Edition Espresso SOE is quite nice. Last time I didn't really get this coffee, but have now found pulling it after a long flush is a really nice espresso. Long preinfusion and lower lever pressure also seems to help make an excellent shot.

David's descriptions of flavors are pretty good. They aren't listed on the bags or order info when it comes, so I have 4 oz cans dedicated to each varietal with the tasting notes, grind notes and pulling notes written on top. While pulling the shot the can moves over to the wife so when she tastes the espresso she can look for the flavors listed in the notes.

We're doing drip coffee so hopefully it's still good!