Release #36: Peach Tea

This is Passenger’s first offering in what we intend to be a series of one-off, limited blends. Each of these blends will be composed of rare microlots selected from the archive of green coffees that we keep carefully preserved in the freezer. While the Freezer Friday series will continue to revisit single origin reserve lots, our large archival collection also offers Passenger's roasting team a fun opportunity to create bespoke blends from various notable harvests of the past. Whether centered on clean expressions of fruit or florality, mouth watering acidity, or elegant balance and approachability, what we ultimately look for in curating these small batches is a sum that is truly greater than its parts.

This initial selection is made up of three components from the 2020 harvest year, featuring two growing regions in Ethiopia, as well as two distinct processing approaches. The two majority components, one wet process and one dry process, are from the Refisa Washing station in the Nansebo region of Ethiopia. The Refisa washing station is one of a number of washing stations owned by SNAP Specialty Coffee, an export company that has built a strong reputation for connecting importers and roasters with some of the most sought after coffees in Ethiopia. The final minority component of the blend is a dry processed lot, sourced from the kebele of Bookkisa, Guji and produced by the legendary Ture Waji and his team at Sookoo Coffee.

With slightly more wet than dry processed coffee in this blend, we find the cup delivers the clean citrus, floral, and black tea qualities that are the hallmark of wet processed Ethiopian varieties... and are a bit reminiscent of peach tea. The dry processed coffee adds just a touch more body to the mix, along with some additional stone fruit and melon flavors that emerge in a very pleasing way as the coffee cools.

Stay tuned for more archival blends to come!