I just delved into Amaro Gayo yesterday; my bag was roasted on the 27th, so it's hitting day 5 about right now. I transitioned into it from Intelligentsia's La Maravilla (the regular coffee roast, as they were out of the espresso roast when I ordered). My bag of Amaro Gayo was roasted by Max Gonzalez of Catalina Coffee Shop in Houston, TX. His roasting company, a different venture than the shop, is Amaya Roasting Co., but his coffees are to my knowledge sold exclusively in his shop at the moment. I chatted with Max over the weekend about his thoughts on the coffee, and he mentioned that it is indeed an aggregation of coffees from over 900 farms in the Amaro mountains of Sidama, but still a very good coffee. My bag says this coffee is grown about 5200 ft. and is a "sun-dried natural raised-bed" processed coffee. Looks like it's also organic.

Definitely rather dense beans--I started off with the same timing and grind as I was using for La Maravilla, and was getting a whopping 21-22g. The ground coffee aroma is thick, heavy berries and molasses. I started with the high dose (brewing around 201-202F), and the cup was rich with blueberries/strawberries, pretty mild chocolate. Really syrupy mouthfeel, good sweetness; far from a clean cup, though.

I dropped my dose stepwise in 2g increments till I hit 18g, and once I hit it i dropped the brew temp to about 199F. As the dose dropped I found that a very strong zesty citrus note emerged, and when I dropped the temperature it morphed into flavor like sour apple candy. A little bit much on my palate, but quite interesting--ultimately I'm sticking with the high brew temperature for now, though I'll continue exploring lower doses provided the cup quality stays high.

The cappuccinos are really fantastic. 'Demotic fruit bomb' indeed. Overall this coffee is a fun one, and my experience really mirrors John's. It's a recommended coffee for sure. Hopefully whoever you get it from has a better portion of the lot than Jim's source.

another_jim wrote:The Grade 3 Yrg DP is a winner. Clean, classic Yrgacheffe flowers and pit fruit taste, soft Bergamot finish rather than the stronger tannic one. The dry processing adds a touch of sweetness, but neither alcoholic effects nor the berries and chocolate one gets in the Bonko or Gerbichu. Probably the best one can hope for with this aggregating system, a clean coffee with excellent origin character, but not a great deal of individuality.

Recommended for those who want the more aristocratic and restrained Yrgacheffe profile in an espresso, rather than a more demotic fruit bomb.

Having just worked through a pound of this splendid coffee, I am compelled to agree. I had my reservations and did not really believe Tom's rating this one higher than his other Ethiopian YC offering, but I was proved wrong again and happily. This espresso is reserved, a carefully controlled explosion of jasmine and dry flowers, black tea, dark chocolate, and Clover honey, with the fruit more like the aroma of blueberry pie cooling on the window sill rather than ripe fruit in your mouth.

For me that is nice, since while I love a good YC, I am always left wanting. Great fruit and all, but a bit unbalanced. But not this one, which really presents itself as a complete cup. If I could have just one single origin espresso for the rest of my life, I'd be cool with this one. Seriously. This is wonderfully complex, flavorful, and delicate.