Trader Joe's Ethiopia Peaberry

Oh boy oh boy! I'm now two Trader Joe's coffee's in and oh boy oh boy! I think I've hit home runs with both of them! The last one I reviewed was the Costa Rican Tarrazu, the Ethiopia Peaberry is equally as good and yet another fantastic coffee. I'm pretty sure that Trader Joe's is now my go-to place for getting coffee.

I've had peaberry coffee before. The last was Barnie's Tanzanian Peaberry in November of 2011, no review on that one as it was well before this blog existed. According to the wikipedia and confirmed by the back of the packaging, peaberry coffee is the result of only a single seed (bean) being fertilized rather than two seeds that face each other and flatten themselves out. However them come about, they sure do make a lovely cup of coffee.

Having just tried a medium dark roast it didn't take too much experimenting to find a bean/water ratio that worked for this. I was pretty much spot on with the first brew, now just under a week ago. There is an even more colorful bouquet of flavors from the Ethiopia Peaberry than the Costa Rican Tarrazu. Although both are utterly fantastic coffees! I would describe the Ethiopia Peaberry as having slightly more smoothness to both the taste and after taste.

This is going to be a difficult coffee to move on from. I love trying new beans and experiencing the different flavors out there, but this one is stellar and something I would return to without hesitation.

Bottom Line Rating:4.5/5

Cleaning day

Today is cleaning day for my coffee maker, so I figured I would detail the process that I use. I use the Cuisinart DCC 2000, a 12-cup coffee maker. The manual suggests doing a cleaning once-a-month. Since I'm the only coffee drinker in the house and restrict to mornings only, I clean every other month on odd numbered months. 

The first thing I do is scrub all of the removable parts with normal dish soap and water. This includes: gold tone filter,filter basket, reservoir, grate, and tray. After cleaning thoroughly I rinse even more thoroughly! Note: between these bi-monthly cleanings I generally just rinse the parts with hot water. I want to avoid cleaning solutions as much as I can. Who wants to drink soapy coffee?!?

Next up I fill the water reservoir just under the 4-cup mark with plain old nothing fancy white vinegar. I top it to the 12-cup mark with regular tap water. Then press the clean button and start. It seems like it takes a little longer to get going pressing the clean button than a normal start. This is either because it really is doing some kind of cleaning or I'm just not used to ever making a full 12-cups of coffee. The later is more likely.

Once the cycle completes I let it sit for 10-15 minutes then dump the vinegar/water solution out. I once again thoroughly rinse everything with tap water. After the rinse I dry everything out with paper towels, mainly to be sure I've got rid of as much of the vinegar/water solution as possible. I run through one more full 12-cup clean cycle, but this time with just plain tap water. Let it sit, rinse, and dry, then it's done!