Carefreebuzzbuzz recommended Hacea coffee and I recently made an order. He mentioned that the service is top notch and I 100% agree. They even included a personalized, hand-written note with the order. That kind of care was much more common in the pre-amazon monopoly days. I thought I'd share some of the coffees I tried from them. Hopefully we can get some feedback about several of their coffee offerings from other members as well. Feel free to share your impressions.

All coffee cupped initially after 3 days post roast. I roughly ranked them starting with...

Colombia Finca Luisa Juan Pablo Tabi Carbonic Macerated Natural $11.17 per lb
Hacea's Notes: Dried strawberries, lemonade, syrupy body, medium acidity, dark berry aroma
Havea's Roast Notes: Light to medium

This one was roasted to a 22 on the Roast Vision using a profile that seems to work well with a wide variety of naturals for me. It hit right at the light/medium range where I wanted it. I was afraid to go too light with this process and end up with too many fermented notes. No fermented note here. Dry aroma was very sweet like fruit chew (like candy) with berry. Wet aroma brought more of the sweet lemon and berry with a touch of fruit candy aroma. It tasted just as sweet as it smelled with a range of fruity flavors and pleasantly tart acidity. The fruit flavors were more pronounced (cartoonish?) than most naturals and a bit dynamic as in the flavor liked to shift throughout the sip. Hard to describe but ended up being my favorite in a cupping. Perhaps not my favorite if I was tasked with drinking it every day but a stand out at the table.

Nicaragua Finca La Flor Washed $6.66 per lb
Hacea's Notes: Maple syrup, brown sugar, almonds, cocoa, oranges
Hacea's Roast Notes: Light/medium to dark/medium

I went to a 19 on Roast Vision with this one. It ended up a tad darker than I was shooting for but ended up cupping nicely. Dry aroma was deep traditional coffee notes with a bit of nut. Wet aroma came alive with an intensely sweet aroma of milk chocolate and caramel. The flavor was sweet with chocolate and nut, but not earthy more like a praline. This one surprised me a bit because I thought it wouldn't be as rich and be more of a normal coffee flavor. I could drink this as my daily driver.

Ethiopia West Arsi Werka Nensebo Natural $7.74
Hacea's Notes: Strawberry, Cocoa nib, blackberry, milky body, yogurt, Honeyed sweetness
Hacea's Roast Notes: Light DUH!

I hit a 24 on the Roast vision on this one and it could have gone lighter. Dry aroma was fruity and berry with an undertone of rich chocolate. Wet aroma was a deeper berry note with the chocolate lingering. The flavor was surprising. It was fruity like an ethiopian natural should be and bright, but I swear it had a very pleasant cucumber note (but not vegetal at all) in there. I revisited the sample a few times throughout the cupping and noticed it. I'm wondering if it was playing off of the aftertaste of another coffee because it was very surprising. I'll be making more brews of this in isolation to see if it presents it self again. It was quite interesting and not something Hacea noted at all. I'll go light next time and try to hit a 26-28.

Brazil Minas Gerais Luzia Natural $4.89
Hacea's Notes: milk chocolate, hazelnut, nougat, caramel
Hacea's Roast Notes: low, slow medium and also clean in light roasts

I went on the light side of medium at 21 Roast Vision. I've had bad experiences with brazil naturals. They can be hit or major misses so I was being optimistic by roasting so light. It paid off. Usually they are vegetal and harsh when near the 20's but this one exhibited none of that. Dry armoa was chocolate and nutty with a generally pleasant "coffee aroma." Wet aroma shifted toward caramel, brittle, and toffee. The flavor was very clean, sweet and balanced. No harshness but no stand out distinct flavors. Simply, good rich coffee especially at the price point (chocolate, caramel, yada yada). I'm excited to see what I get out of this as an SO cappuccino.

Burundi Kibingo Station Intenso Yeast Fully Washed
Hacea's Notes: Chocolate, nutmeg, vanilla, dried red fruits, medium body, silky mouthfeel
Hacea's Roast Notes: Light to medium

Hacea said this was a versatile coffee at many roast levels so I chose light/medium again at a 22 Roast Vision. The dry aroma smelled of lightly toasted bread, sugar cookie, and a hint of jam. Wet aroma tended toward raisin and coffee. The flavor was slighly savory which was surprising after the aromas and it was sweet. It tasted like it could likely go a bit darker to remove more of the fermented/yeasty process flavors. I think perhaps true medium roast would be better for this coffee so I will try again and give it another shot. The potential is there but not 100% in this roast.

Overall, they were all good. That pretty much never happens when I order several coffees. Usually one or two are good and the rest are tucked away into the "seasoning" section of my closet but every single one was good and unique. I'm excited to try more from these guys. I'll be trying these again in Aeropress and espresso once they rest a little longer. Curious to see what the Tabi is like as a shot. I do wish they had an "archive" of their greens like Happy Mug does. There were a few that by the time I got the coffee they had already removed the page so I couldn't access the deeper information about the coffee.

I wanted to update this for folks that may stumble across this post in the future.

I recently received a package from Hacea with 5lbs of coffee. One bag had a defective seal and broke in transit. This spilled the beans throughout the box. I took some pictures and sent it to Hacea to see what they normally do about an issue like that. I mainly wanted them to know it had happened in case they need to recalibrate their heat sealer. Loose greens aren't as big of a deal as roasted coffee would be.

They responded within 30 mins and had another bag of the coffee that had broken plus a bag of another expensive coffee for me to try as a bonus sent to me with tracking.

These guys are great. I wanted to pass along their excellent response. They went above and beyond.

I have 12lbs of various Hacea coffees to play with once my roaster gets here. It's been on a random trip around the UK for the last 13 days. I believe it has visited just about every FedEx hub there.

I have both the Costa Rica Hacienda Sonora Villa Sarchi Natural and the Colombia FIna La Luisa Juan Pablo Tabi that I plan to blend with the Max Perez. Hope to be roasting by this weekend.

Had a chance to finally roast and try the Max Perez. Very nice coffee. I went to 15.5F after FC in 2:00. The heavy body is spot on even in a pour over. One of the "thickest" feeling coffees I've had at this roast level. I get a milk chocolate taste but not much caramel. Likely would need a higher roast level to get the caramel taste. A tiny hint of acidity and tapering aftertaste. Kind of dangerous, I think I could chug several mugs of this

Very interested to try it as a espresso after a few days of rest.