Native Coffee Company‘s exceptional roasts been the best discovery I’ve made in coffee in years, and the fact that they have a showroom/cafe based here in Dallas (where I’m based) makes it even better! This roaster has a special line of beans called Hachi (focusing on innovative coffee processing techniques), and while most of the beans in this line are out of my price range (100 gram bag for $ 21?? I’d be borderline scared to grind beans for fear of getting it wrong and wasting $ 4+ a cup), I did allow myself to buy the most reasonably-priced option in the Hachi lineup.
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with lacquer infused with gold dust. Rather than try to make a broken bowl look new again, the technique of ‘golden joinery’ calls attention to the cracks and makes the imperfections something to celebrate, not something to hide.
In writing up this review, I discovered that head roaster Diego Bermudez invented a new processing technique that he calls Symbiotic Process – I’m not a scientist and I don’t know what’s involved, but the cupping fooled many into thinking these were Gesha beans when they’re actually Caturra. This was exactly my experience as well – if I had done a blind tasting, I would have thought these were Gesha beans for sure!!
Whole bean: Floral, fresh laundry, yellow fruit.
Hario V60: By far the best brewing method I found for these beans. I wrote “Geisha vibes” in my notes, as I’ve rarely had any coffee that was this floral, sweet, and fragrant that wasn’t a Gesha/Geisha. Incredibly complex, layered, and delicious.
Clever Dripper: Slight floral notes with a buttery richness that reminded me of croissants.
Chemex: A little blander than the other methods? Not a bad cup of coffee by any means, but after tasting how these beans sing in the V60 in particular, this was a little underwhelming. I’m going to blame the thicker filter.
French press: I’m typically a huge fan of press pot coffee, but for these beans, this method made the coffee kind of muddy. Still good but not preferred. For beans this special, they deserve a method with more clarity to let the flavors shine.
Summary: What an exceptional coffee – especially in the Hario V60. For my money, it’s not even worth brewing these beans any other way. They have the sweetness and complexity and outstanding flavor notes of Geisha beans at a pretty reasonable price point. Are these beans cheap? Not by any means – but it’s a hell of a deal if you love specialty coffee and light roasts.
As of the time I’m writing this, the beans are sold out but keep checking back because they have noted that the Hachi – Kintsugi beans will be back in stock soon!
From the roaster: floral, lemon meringue, peach, yellow plum
Native Coffee Company Online Store
Review conducted 31 days post-roast.
