Ethiopia Sidama Chuchu – Mela Coffee Roasting Co.

Mela Coffee Roasting Co. is a micro-roaster located just east of Seattle. Before the COVID-19 situation forced vacation plans to change, I was planning to visit their cafe on an upcoming vacation to Seattle. Since I was no longer able to physically visit, I knew I had to add them to my Crema.co playlist and try their naturally processed Ethiopian coffee I had been eyeing for awhile.

The coffee begins with a complex and sweet fragrance with notes of blackberry, toffee, caramel and vanilla. The flavor was incredibly sweet and had notes of blackberry, almonds, toffee and lavender. As the coffee cooled the flavor became even sweeter and the caramel/toffee notes transformed into what tasted almost like maple syrup. The coffee had some great acidity throughout that was crisp and bright. I loved the balance of the sweet, fruity and floral notes paired with the toffee, caramel and nutty notes. The coffee was complex with these different, evolving flavor combinations and it was exciting to come back to time and time again. I tried the coffee in a variety of pour over brew methods, as well as espresso and it held up in each of them. The pour over brought out the sweetness the most, but even in the espresso the combination of fruit & caramel, floral & nutty was present.

The Bottom Line

Ethiopia Sidama Chuchu was another big hit from my Crema.co playlist and a coffee I’ve enjoyed exploring immensely. My first experience with Mela Coffee was a good one and I’m excited to hopefully have the chance to visit them in person in the coming years.