Uganda Sipi Falls Honey Organic

This is our second Crown Jewel from Sipi Falls, they must be doing something right! This honey processed lot is rich and creamy with a delightfully complex compliment of flavors. While honey lots from the Americas tend to showcase intense fruity sweetness, this one is surprisingly warm with notes of molasses, apricot, cherry cola and cocoa finished with toffee and spice.

Arrival Date: November 12th, 2021

Acidity & Brightness: Mildly tart, warm sweetness

Balance & Finish: Complex with a lingering toffee and spice finish

Body & Texture: Full, rich body with a creamy texture

Flavors: Molasses, apricot, cherry cola, cocoa and toffee

Grade: AA, grown at 1800-2000 meters

Certifications: Organic

Processing: Honey processed, sun dried on raised beds

Grower: Producers organized around the Sipi Falls washing station

Region: Kapchorwa district, Mt. Elgon

Varietals: Bourbon, Blue Mountain, SL14, SL28

Roasting: This coffee performs best in the City+ to Full City+ range (Light-Medium to Medium-dark). Pull your roast as first crack begins to slow for City+ and experiment taking it into the first few snaps of second crack for a Full Medium+ roast. Lighter roasts will bring out more fruity sweetness and a tart front end while darker roasts will feature more body and warm flavors. Takes resting very well, flavors will balance and blend nicely with longer rest times. We recommend 4 or 5 days or more of rest.

Reminder! This is raw coffee, you must roast it before brewing.

Review: "Sipi Falls, named after Mt. Elgon's most famous waterfall just down the road, is a centralized wet mill located in the Kapchorwa district that buys and processes cherry from 8,000 organic and diversified farms across the northern part of the mountain. The sheer volume of quality coffee produced by this single wet mill is a testament to the truly ideal conditions of elevation, biological wealth, and human experience that abound between the farmers and Sipi Falls’ management team. The vast majority of coffee processed at Sipi Falls is fully washed but starting in 2016 the quality team at the mill started tinkering with honey and natural processed cherry. These coffees trickled out into the world at first with very little fanfare, in what could only be considered a side project for Sipi Falls; however, with a few years under their belt, there is now an annual portfolio of honey, natural, and custom washed coffees that masterfully showcase the full spectrum of Elgon’s high-elevation terroir. Each lot is tracked throughout its conditioning phase by Sipi Falls’ quality manager, who cups and approves every lot at least once just after drying, and again about 2 months later to check that the conditioning is stable. These experimental lots are beloved at Sipi Falls, and (as with quality teams all over the world with a passion for the new and delicious) are by far the most deliberated. And thanks to the added uniqueness and cup quality, farmers selected for these microlot programs see the highest bonuses of anyone selling cherry to Sipi Falls." - Royal Coffee

I was blown away by a natural lot from Sipi Falls Natural last season. I had never had a Ugandan coffee with so much going on! You could change it significantly based on the roast and unlike most naturals, the flavors were such a refreshing change from so many others I'd tasted. Definitely unlike anything I'd ever had before. Well this year, Royal Coffee chose Sipi Falls' honey processed lot as their Crown Jewel and I can definitely see why. Once again, it's a refreshing departure from so many honey processed coffees! While many focus on bringing out fruity sweetness, this coffee is surprisingly warm while still being sweet. Definitely try this one without sugar first! And as with the natural from last year, your roast can have a significant impact on final flavor. Lighter roasts will feature more of that fruity sweetness you expect from a honey processed coffee: Apricot, grape, even kiwi. As you roast darker, the flavors become more warm and inviting like molasses, cherry cola and even cocoa. The finish is pleasantly long with a toffee and ever so slightly spicy tone. I can't recommend this coffee enough, Sipi Falls blew it out of the water again! Also note that this coffee really likes to rest. As it rests, the flavors calm down and the sharp edges become more balanced and rounded. Try to wait 5 days before drinking if you have the self-control!