It’s been a long time coming, but May’s MistoBox finally arrived at my doorstep yesterday afternoon—and not a moment too soon!
After MistoBox’s successful recent appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank, Samantha and Connor have been very, very busy filling more and more orders and attracting the attention of more and more roasters to work with. And that’s a very, very good thing—I couldn’t be happier for them.
But the honeymoon phase is over now; time to come down that from that Hollywood high and get back to business. And the same applies for me. So let’s get down to brass tacks.
Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping a cup of Natural Ethiopia Sidama, from Bow Truss Coffee Roasters in Chicago, Illinois. Feel free to pull up a chair.
[no background information provided on their website]
the basics:
origin: Sidama, Ethiopia
farm: N/A
elevation: 1600 – 2000 meters above sea level
cultivars: Ethiopia Heirloom
process: natural
certifications: standard
the coffee:
The aroma of the Ethiopia Sidama comes booming out of the cup—it’s obvious that this is a naturally-processed coffee just from that. Cocoa, obviously, plays massively into the overall aroma, but there are some other scents laced in with it that make this an immensely pleasurable scent: cream, berries, and even some gentler jasmine and violet aromatics.
This sweet aroma leads to tart flavors of blackberry, raspberry, and citrus, and sweet notes of cherry and creamy chocolate milk.
As the cup cools off, what I’ve come to know as Bow Truss’s signature taste of tin, paper, and roast shows up. It’s not over-roasted, it’s just roasted out—like the flavors have been sucked out or staled. Then, towards the end of the cup, at room temperature, the flavors begin to reemerge and I’m greeted with a very soft, mellow citrus acidity that finishes off the cup. But as much as I would typically enjoy the flavors herein, the cup just isn’t very lively or flavorful enough to hold my attention.
It’s boring—which is something I really hate to say about a natural Ethiopia.
Full body; creamy mouthfeel; citrus acidity; dry finish.
the bottom line:
I remain largely disappointed in Bow Truss—which pains me to say, what with them being a local Chicago business and my having friends there. However, I can’t deny that I’m coming close to giving up on their stuff entirely.
With every coffee I have from them, I always get the same result—a brief glimmer of deliciousness, a stage of roastiness, then a lackluster finish. The same held true for this Natural Ethiopia Sidama.
Did you like this? Comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome here at the Table! Pull up a chair and speak your mind by entering a comment below. Also remember to like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter!
Andrew is a husband, father, dog lover, craft beverage enthusiast, content creator, and niche market Internet celebrity. Formerly of A Table in the Corner of the Cafe and The Pulitzer Project and contributor to Barista Magazine and Mental Floss, he’s been writing on the Internet for years.