Behind The Beans: Nusu
The newest blend to join our bean lineup, Nusu is a beautifully smooth espresso coffee and our first foray into El Salvador origination. Here’s the full rundown on Nusu…
The origin
Nusu is a blend combining two origins: Kenya and El Salvador. The Kenyan beans are a PB grade coffee from Kirinyaga – the same location we sourced for our Rafiki single origin. You can read more about what this stunning part of the world means for beans and their flavour profiles over on Behind the Beans: Rafiki
PB is a PeaBerry bean, which are characterised by a naturally occurring mutation whereby they only have one seed grow inside the coffee cherry, as opposed to most other beans which have two seeds inside each cherry.
Because PB beans are the only seed inside their coffee cherry, they tend to be smaller, rounder and denser than non-PB alternatives. A lot of coffee graders believe that because they only have the single seed, they can be sweeter and have more caffeine than their two seeded counterparts due to being able to absorb more nutrients.
The El Salvador beans are from Ahuachapan, grown on El Gobiado farms. El Gobiado is a 13 hectare farm located in the mountain range region, where there are over 38,000 trees planted. The coffee here is picked ripe, dry fermented and then put onto raised beds where it will dry further for 25-28 days.
The process
The Kenyan coffee follows a washed process which we have thoroughly broken down over here.
El Salvador beans use a natural process, different to the washed approach in Kenya. Here’s what goes into a natural process…
- The coffee cherries are dried whole without the intervention of machinery or water
- Prior to drying, the beans are floated in water to remove any under or overripe fruit
- The beans are then dried on raised beds. This method brings a lot more airflow to the drying process which means a more evenly dried fruit
- To prevent spoiling, the beans are raked and moved constantly throughout this 25-28 drying period
- Once dry, the cherries are sent to mills for hulling. This is the separation of the seeds from the dried fruit
The natural process is considered a more traditional method of processing beans. It originated in countries with limited access to clean water but has continued to be used because of the flavours farmers can pull from the beans. Natural coffees are generally a bit ‘dirtier’ looking given the fact that they are not stripped of their cherry and mucilage with machinery and as a result, the finished green bean can have a slight yellow/brown hue to them as opposed to washed coffees which are all very green and uniform. Whew, what a science lesson!
The flavour notes
When sipping this coffee you’ll taste beautifully smooth notes of amaretto, nougat and macadamia.
Best brewing methods…
This blend has been roasted to an espresso profile so it is best suited to your cappuccinos, lattes and flat whites. If you want to get a true sense of the flavours in Nusu, try it as an espresso shot. The flavour notes.
