I am Świder, also often known as Paweł Świderski, and some time ago I was known, and I don't know if this is still the case, as the saddest barista in Poland. In the course of my coffee adventure, which has lasted for almost 5 years now, I have more than once found myself among the finalists of the Polish championships mainly in disciplines related to pour-over coffee. On a daily basis, I am stationed in the windiest place in Poland, i.e. Kołobrzeg, where I work as the manager of the Coffeedesk café.

To the point!
I'll be on here once in a while with my thoughts, tests, tastings and degustations maybe too but hopefully the latter as little as possible 😉.

Well, here we go once again 😉 My coffee review will be the first to go.
The packet of beans almost immediately after firing and I have had it with me for a dozen days or so and every time I brew it surprises me more and more and more and more pleasantly!

Which coffee am I talking about?

It is washed fresh from Ethiopia, precisely from the Nensebo region from the Refisa washing station. In the packet, we find two botanical varieties, Kurume and Wolisho, whose trees grew at an altitude of around 1950 m.a.s.l. So in general, looking at these data, everything gives us a pretty decent picture of the speciality beans. 😉 In addition, I must mention that I love washed coffees for their softness and juiciness, so this coffee stole my supposedly sad heart even more.

But how much can we talk about grains, let's get down to specifics!

When I first opened the packet of this coffee I immediately smelled a very pleasant floral and citrus aroma. The intensity of these aromas reminded me of my first day behind the bar when I was completely green on the subject of coffee, I opened my first packet of coffee and it was actually coffee of Ethiopian origin. It brought a tear to my eye.

Well, and there will be a digression apropos of this coffee.
We live in a time when every second roaster calls itself speciality and produces high-quality coffee. In general, speciality is becoming very widespread and this is, on the one hand, a very good thing because we are beginning to pay attention to the problems of those most responsible for the production of our favourite drink, the farmers. But there is always a but. In this case, the but is that increasingly these coffees are simply common. Unremarkable. This Ethiopia is different. It's the kind of speciality coffee that should be distinct, full-bodied and memorable, and if the opportunity arises I'll stock up on a few more packs of this bean.

And then came that magical moment of brewing. I brewed, of course, according to a rule that I will probably follow for the rest of my barista days, and that is "No lime only drip". And the truth is that the simpler you brew this coffee, the better it comes out. This is another element that I really like about coffee, which is simply delicious on its own. You don't have to combine brewing, magic arts and voo doo over a dripper, you just pour at once and it does itself. That's exactly what I did and I was as happy as a little kid when he gets his favourite toy. That's why I encourage people not to overcomplicate and to look for the simplest possible solutions when it comes to brewing coffee, and in this case, Scott Rao's method is probably the best way to go.
And after brewing, a whole range of flavours and aromas filled my mug with a sign that sometimes lies to me and the sign proclaims 'It's Cool' and the fact when I drink good coffee in it is just as the sign says. In terms of aroma, mainly flowers, tangerines and black tea stood out to me. As for the taste, flavours reminiscent of pineapple juice, orange peel and again black tea stood out. The aftertaste was long and sweet like milk chocolate and butter biscuits.

To sum up my whole speech, full of interjections that probably only amuse me, this is a very complex coffee, full of values that should be sought out in speciality coffees. Because this is speciality in its own right, and I would like to see more coffees like this appear on the market.

So far, I think that's it from me!
Expect me to hammer on here like a bad guy.
Or as my wife puts it - like a wild marten into a gooseberry.

Paweł Świderski,

known in the industry as Swider or Sad Swider. He has been dabbling in coffee since 2015. Finalist in many coffee competitions, including 2nd vice-champion of the Polish Brewers Cup 2019. A devotee of overflows, antitalent of latte art, privately a musician, photographer and nature lover.