Congo – Aperture Coffee Roasters

Andrew Pautler

5 years ago

Coffee Details

Coffee Name

Congo

Roaster

Aperture Coffee Roasters

Roaster Location

Woodstock, VA

Estimated Price

$10.00 / 8 oz

Flavor Profile

Cranberry, Honey, Apricot, Brown Sugar

Process

Fully Washed and Sun Dried

Country

Congo

Region

North Kivu

Elevation

1580-1800 MASL

Producer

Kawa Kabuya Co-op

Roast

Light

Roast Date

January 1, 1970

Reviewed Date

January 1, 1970

Coffee Scoring

Overall Score

8.5 / 10

Aroma

9 / 10

Body

9 / 10

Flavor

8 / 10

Acidity/Brightness

9 / 10

Balance

9 / 10

Sweetness

8 / 10

Cleanliness

9 / 10

Aftertaste

9 / 10

Complexity

7 / 10

Flexibility

8 / 10

Pros

Nice aromatics in both the fragrance and aroma
Acidity helps add to the overall complexity

Cons

Flavor didn’t have anything unique to really make this coffee stand out

This is the second review in a series of Aperture Coffees (see the first review here). This was a very different coffee from the Costa Rica last week. While the Costa Rica was bright and fruity, this Congo was more of what I’d call a traditional or classic coffee. It had a rich, nutty aroma and a medium body with a more subtle sweetness. It was still a really good coffee, but didn’t have anything incredibly unique about it. It was balanced and clean, but lacked some of the intricacies I’ve come to expect in a speciality cup of coffee—especially after its counterpart from Costa Rica had such complexity.

The Bottom Line

There is no doubt this coffee deserves to be in the speciality class, but it lacked some of the intricacies of flavors that I think separates the best speciality coffees from the rest. I’ll gladly enjoy finishing this bag, but if I were to order from Aperture again, I’d absolutely choose the Costa Rica over this Congo.