PT's Ethiopian Ardi

Ethiopian Ardi is an award-winning naturally processed coffee from the Sidamo region that placed 1st in East Africa's Taste of Harvest competition. It was until recently offered by PT's, Coava, Madcap, and Klatch. AJ's coffee still has a stash available, and I suspect that others do too.

I went through my bag of PT's interpretation pretty quickly. I used about 2 cups of it in an ice cream recipe, and its distinctive flavor rang clearly through all the milk, cream, and sugar.

It tasted of rambunctious blackberries, pungently tart and sweet and slightly dry. Out of the French Press it had a pleasantly sharp pineapple finish.

It was most delicious through cloth, but was good through paper- and metal-filtration as well. Brewed with a vacuum pot, this wild coffee was almost dignified, tasting like black-currant tea.

Every year, it seems like the naturally processed East Africans get better, cleaner. Last year's Worka, which a bunch of roasters offered, tasted too much like overripe fruit to me. This one had a gentle brandy quality, but fortunately lacked the almost rotten quality that some naturals have.

Looking forward to next year's crop, but in the meantime there are plenty of delicious new-crop Central American coffees available.