First time in the Roastful box is one that our friends in the coffee community have become rather acquainted with over the past year or two- and that's Shoebox. The definition of ultralight roast profiles is represented by roasters like H&S, September, and yes, Shoebox. With somewhat of a cult following, we knew we had to get them in our box at some point, and what a better opportunity than when Ray Murakawa says he’d like to select them for his curated box!
This one needs REST. Ultralight coffees are characterized in part by that bit of grain that you might taste in the cup on this one- as this coffee rests a bit more that will fade to the back a bit more and the fruit towards the cup. Also, this one at lower agitations tends to taste a bit better- the clarity helps that acidity to really shine. Here are some general tips on how we’d recommend brewing it:
Rest time: 1 month +
Temp: 205+
Grinding: Relatively normal compared to a lot of ultralights that you might grind finer-
Other notes: Use a melodrip or reduce agitation in some way for this one.
Do they need another introduction? Not really- but here is a short one. It’s not hard to see that Sey is one of our favorite roasters here in the states- partially because of roast quality, partially because of green selection. Ray also loves Sey, and so we’re stoked to present them together for this collab box. Ray really loved the aromatic quality that this coffee has- it really stands out on the cupping table alongside other coffees.
This one has a really classic washed profile that we love- and it feels like the volume is just really turned up with some of these lovely aromatics. Here are some general tips for getting the most out of this coffee:
Rest time: 2-4 weeks
Temp: 205
Grinding: Just a tad finer than the other two in this box.
We’ve followed Thankfully since we saw them appear on our buddy Bow’s retail shelf in Rowan in Asheville. We love finding gems like Thankfully- expert roast quality with the confidence to roast both regular light profiles and profiles verging on ultralight!
This coffee definitely has a bit more solubility than the Kenyan from shoebox. That being said, temps should definitely come down a bit more compared to Shoebox. We wouldn’t quite call this one ultralight, but it’s got a lot of the qualities that we love from Ultralight profiles, without a lot of the qualities that sometimes are a bit much for us! Here are some general tips on how we’d recommend brewing this coffee:
Rest time: 2-4 weeks
Temp: 205-
Grind size: In between grind sizes for Shoebox and Sey.