Today’s coffee was roasted on July 14th. It is the Sky Hill Coffee from Aomi Coffee. The coffee itself originates from Rwanda. According to my sheet, Sky Hill coffee is a blend of the best beans from 18 different coffee processing plants in Rwanda. It is considered a refreshing and clean coffee. Let’s see if that is the case.

The Beans:

Smell – There is not a lot to the smell. It is a very good, “coffee” smell. Slightly earthy and fragrant. Not very telling aside from the fact it is does smell very good. No real distinctive notes that pop out.

Taste – Bitter is the first thing that comes to mind. Not in a bad way. Very similar to a dark chocolate. There are some light, berry like tastes in the background along with the general earthiness you get from beans in general. Very pleasant to eat and I would not mind eating these beans as a snack, something I can’t say for most beans, even beans that make great coffee.

Brewing:

I had these roasted today so the CO2 is pretty high. The off-gassing from this batch in general was very high. The volume appeared to almost double. Very nice sign as that means these beans, even if I kept them for a while, should stay decently fresh compared to some of the other freshly roasted beans I’ve bought. Again, no real specific notes in the smell which is interesting on its own.

Drinking!

Ah, the important part. Making coffee is fun, cathartic, and all that but the taste is what we are really aiming for.

The taste is very clean and refreshing. Exactly as noted on my information sheet. Aside from that, it is hard to get very specific quirks or more delicate notes from this coffee. The berry flavors from the beans are in the back and that is probably what gives it the “refreshing” feel. Very easy to drink and maybe a good coffee to introduce people to fresh, non-instant or grocery store coffee. For someone looking for more nuanced notes, it may be a little disappointing.

The acidity comes out more if you let it cool down a bit and the berry flavors come in more. It is close to a sharp cherry flavor that is a good accent to the simplicity of the coffee.

Overall, I enjoyed this coffee. It is simple and therefore not as stimulating as some of the other coffees I’ve had in the face but sometimes something simple and easy to drink is nice. I would give this a solid 7.5-8 out of 10.