Snehil

October was a fun month, coffee-wise, as I explored several Indian beans and even one from Rwanda.

This post is a bit late due to the festival season, but as I mentioned in my last post, I’ve moved away from sticking to just a few roasters. I’ve been trying new coffees and am still working on stabilizing my coffee rating scale.

1. Fraction9 – Peach Bomb Naturals

This was my first coffee from Fraction9 Roasters. They maintain end-to-end control over most of the coffee they offer and sell.

Estate – Kalyancool Estate
Processing – Naturals
Varietal – S795
Roaster’s Tasting Notes – Floral, Peach, Keylime, Bergamot
Roast Level – Light Plus

This particular coffee was light-roasted and became very expressive about a week off roast, showcasing its bright, citric qualities. With a 20% (+5%) discount, it offered excellent value as a daily driver, with vibrant notes and high acidity. It had a lighter body and a low aftertaste.

Verdict : Recommended for citric properties and acidity . Rating – 7.8/10

2. Blue Tokai – PL2 Barbara CIMA Yeast

This was Blue Tokai’s second Producer’s Lot offering this year, and it turned out to be quite a funky coffee.

Estate – Baarbara
Processing – CIMA Yeast Fermented Natural
Varietal – S795
Roaster’s Tasting Note – Stewed Apple, Chamomile, Jackfruit, Pomegranate
Roast Level – Light

It had a pleasant fermented quality and didn’t require much rest time. With strong acidity, a hint of well-balanced bitterness, and a citric note, it presented a medium body and aftertaste.

It brewed well at a 1:15 or 1:16 ratio using an Aeropress, but over-extracting or letting the coffee cool too much led to some unpleasant flavors. However, if you’re a fan of funkier profiles, you’ll enjoy this coffee—as long as you don’t over-extract it.

Verdict : Recommended for being funky and quite different. Rating – 7/10

3. Greysoul – The Rose coffee

Still one of the best finds in Indian coffee, and I’ve been enjoying it regularly over the past two months. The rose petal notes are prominent and pleasantly intense.

A perfect coffee for the evening.

Estate – Ratnagiri
Processing – 72hr Carbonic Maceration
Varietal – Catuai
Roaster’s Tasting Note – Prominent Rose syrup, strawberry cream & saffron
Roast Level – Light

Verdict : Highly recommended if you like floral and light roasted coffee. Rating – 8.5/10

4. Koffie Genetics – SL 28 CM Washed

This is a light-medium roast from Koffie Genetics that needed a minimum of 2-3 weeks of resting to fully express its flavors. It produced a very pleasant, balanced cup with good sweetness and acidity. While it had a sweet, fruity profile, I could mainly identify citric notes, though other subtle flavors were present.

Estate – Ratnagiri
Processing – Carbonic Maceration washed
Varietal – SL28
Roaster’s Tasting Note – Prunes, Black Currant, Orange, Grapefruit, Red Apple
Roast Level – Light-Medium

I’m looking forward to comparing this SL28 to offerings from other roasters when I get the chance.

Verdict : Recommended as it gives a tasty cup . Rating – 7.5/10

5. Koffie Genetics – SL 34 CM Washed

Estate – Ratnagiri
Processing – Carbonic Maceration washed
Varietal – SL34
Roaster’s Tasting Note – Orange Marmalade, Honey, Stone Fruit, Clove
Roast Level – Light-Medium

My thoughts remain mostly the same as with the previous SL28, though this one felt a bit fruitier. It might take a more developed palate to fully distinguish the differences, but overall, it’s a very enjoyable coffee.

Verdict : Recommended as it gives a tasty cup . Rating – 7.5/10

6. Savorworks – Blue Sky

Blue Sky has been the Savorworks offering I’ve had the most in the past, but for some reason, the recent re-launch was bland and uninteresting—I didn’t enjoy it. I’m not sure if this was due to the this year’s Riverdale beans or something else.

Estate – Riverdale
Processing – Mixed Fruit Fermented Naturals
Varietal – SLN-9 & SLN-795
Roaster’s Tasting Note – Watermelon, Peach, Dried Apricot & Walnut

Verdict : Not Recommended .

7. Savorworks – Phenom

Phenom restored my trust in Savorworks’ roasting. In terms of cup quality, it was almost as pleasant as the Koffie Genetics SL28 CM Washed. I’m not certain about an exact rating, but it’s somewhere between 7 and 7.5 out of 10.

Estate – Mooleh Manay
Processing – 64 Hours Yeast Inoculated-Natural
Varietal – SLN-6
Roaster’s Tasting Note – Pink Guava, Orange Marmalade, Plum and Banana
Roast Level – Medium

Verdict : Recommended for 1 bag ,but won’t be trying again as personal preference .

8. Naivo – Rwanda Kilimbi Honey Red Bourbon

This was my coffee of the month—the first foreign bean I’ve tried in a long time, and it excelled across the board. It had high acidity, a very sweet profile, a good finish, and a medium body.

Estate – Kilimbi Washing Station (Joseph Ntarindwa)
Processing – Honey Sun Dried
Varietal – Red Bourbon
Roaster’s Tasting Note – Champak, Red Apple, Rooibos Tea
Roast Level – Omni-roast

I’d definitely like to try it again. A wonderfully fruity profile!

Verdict : Highly recommended, very sweet, juicy and fruity cup. Rating – 9/10

Final Ranking this month-

Naivo – Kilimbi Honey Red Bourbon
Greysoul – The Rose coffee
Fraction9 – Peach Bomb Naturals
Koffie Genetics – SL28 and SL34 CM Washed, Blue Tokai -PL2 , Savorworks – Phenom (in no particual order)
Savorworks – Blue Sky

October was a great month coffee-wise, except for the 5 days when I had no coffee, aside from Blue Sky, which I didn’t enjoy at all. The Naivo Rwanda beans were definitely the find of the month.

In November, I’ll be trying some offerings from Dak (Coco Bongo and Honeymoon) and Archers, and possibly a few more foreign beans.

This is the second post in the monthly coffee revisit series, where I review the coffee I had over past month.

This month, I tried a bunch of new roasters, departing from my general habit of daily driving Savorworks offerings for a year and half.

1. Light Roast Sample Pack by Bloom Coffee Roasters

This was my first time trying BCR beans. It came with three light roasts, each 75g.

Ratnagiri Estate (Washed)
Papakuchi Coffee
Salawara Estate – Yellow Honey

All three coffees were overall okay, but nothing surprising. I have had Ratnagiri from Greysoul and Savorworks in the past, and I would continue to prefer them over BCR Ratnagiri any day. The other coffees in the pack were also mid-range. Okay overall, but there are better roasters, and I won’t be retrying anytime soon, as I am trying more fruity and floral coffees for now.

Verdict – There are other better coffee to try.

2. The Rose Coffee(Ratnagiri) by Greysoul

After liking the previous Ratnagiri,I tried this after learning about it from r/indiacoffee and wow, this was the best coffee hands down for the month of September.

This is a highly processed coffee and a light roast. Just opening the outer box, you will be greeted with an intense rose aroma, which would be a pleasant surprise for an Indian coffee. I tried it first after 6 days of resting (number of days after roast date), and the dry and wet aroma, along with tasting notes, gave a strong indication of rose, which I loved a lot. The body was a bit light, but that is expected of floral coffee.

Additionally , if you let it rest more than 2 weeks, you will find the Rose note in both aroma and taste taking back seat and Saffron becoming prominent which is also nice (although I liked Rose over Saffron) .

I brewed it with Aeropress and French press , waiting for my V60 to arrive and see if I can get something different in brew. I will be stocking 200gm of this coffee for later too 😉

Verdict – Highly Recommended if you like Floral and light roast coffee.

3. Heisenberg(Riverdale) by Savorworks

I tried Heisenberg again this month and it is same great offering. Still the best Riverdale by any Roaster I have yet.

In october I will try some other riverdale by them , maybe Blue Sky or Vienna (Dark Roasts ! Feeling adventurous?)

Verdict – Highly Recommended

4. Riverdale Estate N72 by Blue Tokai

Back to back Riverdale (after savorworks). Very intense aroma with classy riverdale characteristics. I would have recommended it if there were no better Riverdale available(which is not the case currently).

Verdict – May try, but this year not the best Riverdale

5. The Betel Leaf Coffee (Ratnagiri) by Greysoul

This was another Ratnagiri and highly processed coffee from Greysoul. This had prominent betel leaf notes, which was a nice addition, and a less prominent but clean rose petal note and aroma (just like The Rose Coffee, but slightly weaker).

I would mildly recommend it for people who like funky and/or floral notes in coffee, although I would choose Rose coffee over this all the time. It was nice tasting it, but I won’t be ordering again.

The coffee itself had those high aroma, intense sensory punch with a slight low body, classic Greysoul characteristics.

Verdict – Won’t Recommend, not a bad coffee but better coffee by greysoul available.

Final Ranking for the month-

The Rose Coffee – GREYSOUL
Heisenberg – Savorworks
Riverdale Estate N72 – Blue Tokai
The Betel Leaf Coffee – GREYSOUL
Light Roast Sample Pack – Bloom Coffee Roasters

September was mostly an experimental month, which led to a very nice coffee month overall. I already have some coffee for the first 10 days of October from 3 different roasters.

Also, I did a considerable upgrade in my home coffee setup at the end of the month. Now I have 3 brewing methods – Aeropress, French Press, and Hario V60, along with a weight scale and temperature control measures. Looking forward to even better filter brews.

Also I have made a good progress on my coffee project . You can read about it at my github.

Author: Snehil

This month in coffee – October, 2024