ETHIOPIAN Suke Quto
ETHIOPIAN Sidamo Suke Quto Private Estate Filter Roast
Ethiopian Suke Quto New Crop.
This year Suke Quto only just made it to James Gourmet. Life has become a little complicated moving coffee over some borders. Sadly we can’t offer this incredible, classic gem of a washed coffee as organic this year. Behind the scenes, we are already working on a solution for next year. Suke Quto has been a regular at JGC for a number of years and it’s not something that we are about to just give up on. Tesfaye is a true coffee legend and I get a little bit of joy out of supporting him every year.
Sometimes we forget just how vibrant new crop coffees are, as fine producers like Suke Quto quietly sit in our roastery for much of the year. The crisp acidity and refined depth are just exceptional and delicious. Perfect for long sunny days.
TOP TRUMPS
Suke Quto
Varieties: Kurume and Welicho
Location: Oromia Region, Guji Zone Sidamo
Altitude:1800 – 2200 meters
Soil type: Loamy soil
Average rainfall:950mm
Shade trees: Millettia Ferruginea, Cordia Africana, Albizia Gummifera, Anigeria, Croton Macrostachyus, Eucberigia
Roast: Light Filter (but very extractable in espresso if you like juicy, fruity espresso and milk-based-drinks)
Cup Profile:🥣
Aromatics: Lime Marmalade | Body: Tongue Coating on cooling| Acidity: Complex, stonefruit, lime|
From the outset, this is like a citrus curd with an emerging stonefruit sweetness. There is a touch of dryness on the finish akin to a high-quality, orthodox black tea, think Nilgiri Pearl. Unusually for this level (light/ medium filter) of roast, there is a mouth-coating body. On cooling the fruit sugars are persistent and with all of the right things in place (freshness, good water fresh burrs, etc) Apricot, peach, and lime should be within your reach in extraction. This is such a delicious filter coffee. Because of the body, I felt compelled to try this in espresso, and …it didn’t disappoint.
Recipe: I would start at 60g per liter for batch, V60 and Aeropress.
Espresso:
Being a roast this light, you wouldn’t expect to have a delicious drink, historically. However, without using extra temperature or particularly long extractions, this is just an outstanding coffee.
In milk-based drinks, we started with the tried and tested (1:2) 16-18g of coffee into 33-36g of espresso liquid at 93.5C in 25-30 seconds. Using whole milk, this delivered ginger cake, and lemon posset in a 9oz. Really striking soluble. A 6oz this has more complex citrus and is a little drier but less milk= more complexity.
Espresso recipe: 17g into 45-55g in 28-33 seconds. Lemons and limes, black tea dryness and intense sweetness. Pour over ice, make it longer. Play with it! This is not the prettiest of espressos but it is one of the deepest and most complex of the moment.
It is no secret that we buy much of our Ethiopian coffee from Trabocca as they have been reinvesting and paying premiums on the ground in Ethiopia for years. Trabocca started working with Suke Quto in 2009 and has been a major part of increasing the quality of coffee produced there as well as investing in infrastructure and even a school.
Rather than I try to tell you about this coffee, you can see the whole value in the chain from fair food, here. In the future, we hope to see more of this as it is clean and independent.
You could share your brews with us here:
