When I started review coffees here, it was from a position of substantial ignorance. Although I’d been drinking more and more of it, thanks to our work coffee club, trying a new coffee was always a bit of a leap into the unknown – especially as virtually every brand claims to be “rich, smooth and satisfying” or other such non-informative marketingspiel.

However, I’m now starting to occasionally approach a new coffee with an expectation – not only, for example, do I know that Yirgacheffe is a small town in southern Ethiopia, but I also know roughly the sort of taste I should be expecting from it. Which leaves me rather eager to try today’s coffee!

This is Cherizena‘s Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (named, presumably, to distinguish it from all the other Yirgacheffes around the world).

The dark grounds have an alluring aroma of light fruit, with a definite lime citrus flower tone in the background. Underneath that is just a hint of bitter, black chocolate – the 95% stuff without a hint of sweetness in it.

Brewed, the fruit is somehow a little less ripe, the chocolate a little more free and there’s just a touch of cold cigarette ash. As with the dry grounds, there’s not even a hint of sweetness to the aroma.

In the mouth, it’s deeply satisfying – a full, rounded mouthfeel with a richer, riper red fruit flavour, a warm gently roasted tone and a beautifully subtle bitter undercurrent that lingers just perfectly and leaves you with a slightly tannic finish.

Smooth and full flavoured without being overly rich, this easily earns 4 stars.