Arkansas was back to being a state where there was a relatively small number of reasonable options. It was particularly convenient because I already knew of the existence of Airship, having seen them on the middleman site Trade Coffee (from which I have ordered in the past). I ended up ordering directly from Airship since it was slightly cheaper to do so.
State #4: Arkansas
Airship Coffee Roasters
Bentonville, AR
Somehow when I first started getting into single-origin coffee, I got it in my head that I wasn't a big fan of Ethiopian coffees - I think it must have been something to do with the idea that they were lighter or more acidic? At any rate, this seems to have been completely wrong since the last couple Ethiopians I've tried have been fantastic. This was another natural process that was not overwhelmed by a big cherry flavor; instead, it was light and well-balanced with a nice mild fruitiness. Very drinkable. I do wish that Airship provided a little more information - did the heirloom variety (or varieties) that made up this batch have a name? And what's the roasting level? My guess would be medium-light for this one.
Similarly, "mixed" is a lot less information than I'd like to have. What varieties are in that mix? Maybe this is kind of overcomplicated nerdery that doesn't really mean a lot except that I'm curious, but... I'm curious! What exactly are we talking about here? In any event, this was also a good coffee although if I were going to order one again immediately it would be the Kochere. The Sumatran label definitely nailed it, though - the coffee had that grapefruit acidity, yielding to a chocolatey mouthfeel and the earthy fruitiness characteristic of a lot of Sumatrans. (The label just says "honey" for the process - I don't know if that's a simplification of the similar but not identical
giling basah process that's common in Sumatra, or not.) I think I liked this one slightly better with a bit of half and half - I've taken to drinking my specialty coffee black whenever I have time to make it in the Chemex and drink it at home, but I had to go out the other morning and so added an ounce of creamer for the road. Creamer generally blunts the acidity, which is probably my least favorite of the components of a coffee's profile, so that worked fairly well for me to have that grapefruit bitterness tamped down a little while retaining the other flavors. But I'm drinking it black as I finish this post and it's certainly still good that way. (Oh, and I would guess medium for the roast level.)
We're out of the A states and into the C states! California is up next and I've already got a shipment from Verve Coffee in Santa Cruz heading my way. I'm also eyeballing a particularly interesting and rare option... there's a company called Frinj Coffee that offers coffees that have actually been grown
in California! Evidently in the San Diego area there is a movement to add coffee as a commercial crop. As someone obsessed with geography and collecting coffee origins, this obviously piqued my interest. The only catch - it is
extremely expensive. Not quite high-end Geisha levels - but not too far off! $75 for a five-ounce bag, which is enough coffee to make about six twelve-ounce cups. Would I pay $12.50 for a cup of rare coffee in a cafe? Sure. But having to pay six times that when I don't even know if it's going to be any good is a bit different. Realistically, this is going to happen at some point - it's just too tempting to me - but maybe not just yet. I'll definitely break in to talk about it here whenever it does happen, though.
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