What I'm Drinking: Malawi Mapanga AAA in the Aeropress!

To start off the new year, I"m drinking a cup of Malawi Mapanga AAA roasted a little more than a week ago.  I have been drinking SO espresso from this coffee from both the La Pavoni Profesional and also in the pump machine the Nuova Simonelli Musica, you can find my review for it as espresso here: http://www.roaste.com/CoffeeBlogs/sontondaman/What-I-Am-Drinking-Malawi-.... Unfortunately, Roaste is currently not carrying any Malawi coffee because this particular origin is out of season at the moment. But for those who are interested, the coffee will be in season in about three months.

As SO espresso,  the malawi mapanga is highly fruity, and has crisp acidity; it is something that will surely entertain the palate of many SO espresso lover. From the feedbacks that I got from people here on Roaste, however, it seem most do not like too much acidity in their espresso and indicate that they might enjoy more if this coffee is brewed. This morning, I decide to make this coffee in the Aeropress and review it so that people might more interested.

Per my usual Aeropress protocol, I'm using 12 grams of coffee, grind it in the Baratza Vario at the setting that is a little finer than filter drip setting. I'm preheating everything, the cup, the Aeropress and washing the paper filter to remove papery taste. My target brew time is 1 minute and I'm trying to stir very gently to prevent overextraction. 

The aroma of both the ground coffee and the brew coffee is very inviting, slight graininess, nutty, and cocoa. I'm letting the coffee cool a little bit before going for the first sip; usually, I use that time to clean up the Aeropress, the stirring paddle..etc. Upon the first sip, I'm surprised to find out that all the acidity that was there in the SO espresso shots are not present in the aeropress brew. What is in this brew is nutty taste, milk chocolate, and some kind of dark fruitiness that I can not identify. It was hard for me to identify any kind of fruity acidity but maybe it was a little bit of the juiciness one would associate with eating pomogranate. 

I'm quite surprise that this coffee taste so different brewed compare to when it was prepared as espresso; it was like it is two different kind of coffee, both good in its own ways. I have a good time enjoying this cup with a crisp butter cookie, the richness of the cookie goes perfectly well with the cup without overpowering it. Overall, I really like this coffee and would recommend it to anyone!