#SexyGood x 3: Coffee + Chocolate + Music Pairing : Africa

Abhijit Pradhan
Sep 5, 2018 · 5 min read

Ethiopia ( Coffee + Music) + Madagascar (Chocolate)

Another Killer Killer Pairing/Combo ! Coffee : Ethiopia. Chocolate : Madagascar

After the super successful first pairing attempt with the Guatemala x 3 Origin ( Specialty Coffee, Bean to Bar 100 % Cacao Chocolate + Music), I just had to try another combo with a new Coffee in the brewing line up this week.

This is the 7the Specialty Coffee pack ( and the last) from the loot that I personally curated and picked up from the July Paris + Berlin trip.

After 45 days, finally reached the 7th and last one from the amazing Coffee loot !

The Specialty Coffee loot

  1. Kenya Karimikui. Roasted by Supreme Roastworks. Oslo. Norway. Picked up from Telescope Cafe. Paris
  2. Kenya Kiandu. Roasted by Square Mile Coffee. London, UK. Picked up from Ben Rahim cafe. Berlin
  3. Ethiopia Mormora. Roasted by Square Mile Coffee. London, UK. Picked up from Ben Rahim cafe. Berlin
  4. Colombia Carlos Imbachi. Roasted by Doubleshot, Prague, Czech Republic. Picked up from Happy Baristas. Berlin
  5. Burundi Munyinya Hill. Long Mile Coffee project. Roasted by Populus Coffee Berlin.
  6. Guatemala El Durazno. Roasted by and picked up from The Barn, Berlin. This was the coffee used in the first Coffee+Chocolate pairing
  7. Ethiopia Worka. Roasted by and picked up from Five Elephant, Berlin. This is the one that I am currently brewing and using for the next round of Coffee+Chocolate pairing

It wasn’t easy, but I had to manage the traffic jam caused by the above loot. The way I approached it as always was. Open and brew the oldest roasted pack first. In addition to the above, there were also 4 packs from earlier scheduled ( or delayed) subscription coffees ! Happy that I managed all that, though I still have a 20 day traffic jam to clear till the September subscription boxes start arriving. Phew ;)

Stage 1 : Coffee only

Our Five Elephant coffee shop visit in Berlin ( this place is world famous for its Coffee+Cheesecake !)
I first had the Ethiopia Worka here and decided to take back the beans ( instead of taking some other beans) because I fell in love with it + the Barista recommended I would enjoy its complex flavour profile to the straightforward Kenya Karimikui they had. Turned out to be a brilliant call :)
Back of the pack details + the mind blowing flavour notes. Raspberry. Elderflower. Peach.

So, as per my brewing protocol ( Day 1 : V60. Day 2 : Aeropress. Day 3–6 : Hario Woodneck cloth filter), it was the turn of the V60 ( paper filter pour over). I follow a 25 grams to 425 grams of total output ( 1:17 ratio) with a slightly coarse grind in the manual KinuGrinder M47.

This gives me more output compared to the Aeropress or Woodneck where I get a total output of 240 grams. So, with the V60 I get more Coffee to play with !

So in Round 1 of only Coffee, I did a 3 cups x 2 rounds of sip, taste and reflect with my Figgjo Norway/Tim Wendelboe designed and created coffee cups.

This of course gave me a very good sense of the Coffee even before I introduced the Chocolate pairing element ( where I got another 3 cups x 1 entire round).

I was totally bowled over by the Coffee and it re-validated my decision to bring this pack back home. I had already tried this coffee in the Five Elephant coffee shop in Berlin and had loved it. I could have taken back another set of beans back home as this was my first experience with this roaster, but the barista urged me to take back the same beans seeing that I loved complex flavours and the other one (Kenya Karimikui was a delicious but straighforward flavour experience compared to this Ethiopia Worka).

After brewing it at home, I realised it was a super call.

I got flavours that I don’t recall in a coffee before. Maybe it was the Elderflower along with the Raspberry + Peach. Overall Mind numbing !

The first rating of the “Coffee only stage” broke my scale as usual ! ;) 69 out of 50 !

Stage 2 : Coffee + Chocolate (+ Music of course)

I have already described the flavour note profile of the Coffee ( prior to pairing).

The Chocolate flavour notes ( prior to pairing) are Strong Fruity Berry with an aggressive Finish. This is a 100 % Cacao bar from Madagascar, so it kind of makes the Origin similar to the Ethiopian Coffee ( all from Africa !).

The music is by Mikael Seifu from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, an electronic music artist championing a form called “Ethiopiyawi” which is a blend of Dubstep/Techno/House music with some distinct regional sounds ( pairing !) creating a new musical identity/genre !

The track played for the pairing. The specific section starts from 4:15 for about 30 seconds !

The tasting :

The Protocol : Smell & Sip of Coffee in Cup 1, Reflect, Smell & Bite of Chocolate, Smell & Sip of Coffee in Cup 2 , Reflect, Smell & Bite of Chocolate, Smell & Sip of Coffee in Cup 3, Reflect, Smell & Bite of Chocolate.

The 2 Magic moments :

  1. The Chocolate taste got massively transformed. I noticed a whole new flavour in the bite. Something like a new Berry which I had not detected in either Coffee nor Chocoate before !
  2. The Coffee too had a new “sweet” flavour. I could not identify this one. I have a hunch that it could be one of the 3 exisitng flavours ( Berry / Raspberry) which could have gotten enhanced. I will know better post future pairings !

Overall, this was another amazing transformative experience thanks to the paring of the two ( aided as always by the inspirational music)

I will get a chance to validate this pairing output with my entire coffee protoco l of all 3 brewing methods this time !

Abhijit Pradhan

Written by

A Curator of PASSION + PERSPECTIVE translating them into INSIGHT for inspirational ACTION

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