Vancouver is one of my favorite cities that I’ve ever visited, and while on a short trip to Seattle earlier this year, I made a somewhat spur-of-the-moment decision to hop on a bus and spend a day in Vancouver. While there, I made it a priority to find my way to a 49th Parallel Cafe since it’s quite hard to get these beans in the US. While they do ship their beans to the US, their free shipping over $60 option takes 5-10 business days (unless you pay an arm and a leg for expedited shipping via FedEx), and there’s always a risk of the coffee getting tied up in customs, so I don’t typically opt to order online from roasters not in the US.
These washed Ethiopian beans were around 6 days post-roast when I purchased them, but I got sick again after this trip (despite masking scrupulously!) so I vacuumed-sealed the bag, froze it, and waited to thaw them until I was healthy again. They were worth the wait, though.
Whole bean: Very lightly roasted, small heirloom beans.
French press: This was an exceptionally sweet, fragrant, complex cup of coffee. I think I would have had this opinion even if I hadn’t taken a break from coffee before this tasting, but as the first cup of coffee I’d had in weeks? Revelatory. It tasted of marshmallows and powdered sugar on the front, with magical jasmine notes rising up and filling the mouth with magic. So delicious.
Hario V60: Light-bodied, floral and very delicate. Smooth, not sour or overly bright or acidic. Very reminiscent of a cup of jasmine tea.
Clever Dripper: I accidentally brewed this longer than I intended – total brew time including the draw-down was around 5:15 (I got a little distracted with old-school hip-hop, haha). This cup had a little less sweetness than the other cups so far, and I tasted notes of walnut. It had an almost savory/salty character.
Chemex: At a 4:10 total brew time, it didn’t quite have the savory note of the Clever Dripper cup but it did taste slightly nutty, and it tasted less sweet than the first two cups.
Summary: I really enjoyed this coffee in my French press. What a gorgeous cup! I also really liked it brewed in the Hario V60, but the French press cup definitely won the day with its sweetness and aromatic, fragrant, absolutely wonderful character.
From the roaster: Jasmine, peach, yuzu
49th Parallel Coffee Roasters Ethiopia Halo Beriti
Review conducted 13-17 days post-roast (beans were frozen 12 days post-roast).
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