Consonanza is the quality of harmony in a chord, notes played together, well-knit and compatible. Consonance. I guess it just sounds better in Italian, and I am not above dressing things up a bit! Anyway, it seemed to express my aim in this blend well. It's summer; I want something from espresso that is light, breezy, not brooding. But I also was tired of bright blends that were a bit too thin. I think this strikes a nice balance, still with a floral and citrus accent, but a fairly silky mouthfeel. The coffees here are mostly wet-processed with one exception. The roast should be even, with some slight bean-to-bean color variance. You could get a very occasional quaker - just pick it out. If you see more than one in a roast I would be very surprised, but it is the nature of playing with other processes than just washed coffee.

It's a balanced blend and the aromatics reflect this. The dry fragrance has chocolate-almond roast tones, malt and caramel, with s slight orange fruit note. Wet aroma has a syrupy sweetness, again with the malt, caramel and a bit of maple as well. Espresso is really about the sapid flavor and mouthfeel, and this blend delivers: Silky smooth initially, creamy on the backend. The flavors of sweet and bittersweet are in balance, accented with orange citrus, on the floral side. It has a refreshing finish and long, articulate aftertaste.

This is a powerful blend of coffees from the Arabian Peninsula and Horn of Africa, from Yemen on one side, and Ethiopia on the other. I intended this blend for the exotic espresso shot or intense filter drip coffee. It's even better in a French Press, where the slightly gritty intensity suits to boldness of fruit, chocolate, exotic spice and earth notes. It incorporates three excellent natural Dry-Processed coffees from the most ancient arabica origins. Each contributes to a huge body, strong bittersweet chocolate roast-taste, and intense fruited aromatics. Since all are dry-processed and have nearly equivalent densities and moisture contents, this an acceptable pre-roast blend (as opposed to blending coffees after roasting them separately). None these coffees roast to a uniform color individually, which is part of their character and complexity in the cup. My purpose here is to offer a precisely blended coffee I love, and save you from buying the coffees separately. In fact the Yemeni, Sidamo, Harar and Yirga Cheffe coffees we use for our Moka Kadir are stocked just for the blend, which makes it hard (well, impossible) for you to recreate this though. But the blend idea here, using coffees from the same "family of taste" rather than greatly opposite or complimentary coffees marks a difference in blend rationale, as well as in result. Also, I feel the coffees need to be pre-blended and equalize moisture content with each other, something that works well in larger batches.

The dry fragrance has strong rustic sweetness, dried apricot, pear, licorice, pungent chocolate, charred sage. Aromatics include anise, dried black fig, fudge and dark caramel chocolate (think chocolate See's sucker!) The cup is the culmination of all the intense aromatics, and more. Dense, thick body adds to the sense of "brooding" cup character here. Lighter roasts (yes, lighter roasts work here too) have a caramel rustic sweetness, anise and lavender spice/herbal notes, syrupy body. It's the Full City roasts or darker where the beast is unleashed (uh, as they say), and tarry dark molasses sweetness, thick inky body, and pungent spice come together. Hints of chicory root, pepper and truffle accent a dominating bittersweet chocolate taste (a la Scharffen Berger 70% Cacao bar). Moka Kadir is a true dual-use blend, filter-drip (French Press) as well as espresso too. For espresso, let this coffee rest at least 48 hours ... I think it's best at 3+ days. Also consider that because this blend has dry processed, hand sorted coffees in it, it is not unusual for the result to have a varied color after roasting, some slightly lighter beans, some darker, and a range of sizes. And I hate to say it but we find the occasional small rock in this coffee. Be sure to cull through the green and the roasted carefully. The small bean size of Yemeni and other coffees here can be problem in some drum roasters, such as Behmors with the large grid drum (oldest models - all the new ones have small grid drums). But, with the coffee in the drum, you can shake the drum before roasting to remove the few super small beans than might be lurking in the mix.