Ethiopian Guji Shakiso By Metropolis, A Magical Coffee Experience

Metropolis Coffee has been one of Chicago's gateway's to fantastic types of coffees from around the world, either by blend or single origins.  I have greatly enjoyed most of their offerings.  Visitors to this blog can probably pick up that I love Ethiopian coffees.  Maybe its because I love baked goods (I can hear my dentist cringe), but fruit and chocolate tinged coffee flavors really get my palette going.

Metropolis recently offered Ethiopian coffee from the Guji zone of Oromia in the south of Ethiopia.  This coffee is wet processed, not dry, and according to Metropolis' product sheet is grown at elevations of 1700-1850 meters.

Metropolis, like their other products, offered these beans in 12oz valved packages.  The beans are typical in size for geographically similar beans, (smaller sized), and are more lightly roasted.  Dark roasting beans like this would be blasphemous!!!

This coffee was absolutely fantastic and might be the best offering from Metropolis I have brewed to date.  It retains some of the light flowery and citrus notes of Yirgacheffe sourced coffees but Guji is distinctively sweeter and has a bite of chocolatiness to it.  I thought the flavors were much more interwoven and complex than the description on the package and I have no problem with that.  It was a great surprise when the coffee was brewed.  I primarily brewed in my Vesuviana for this.  Perhaps this year I will splurge on a Chemex.  

Guji goes in my top-5 coffees to date hands down.  Metropolis is to be commended for this offering.  For those of you in other parts of the United States where Metropolis cannot be purchased, I urge you to seek out your local artisan roasters about Guji Shakiso.  Other small roasters do offer these beans and if you want a magical coffee experience, you had best try this before it's out of season.  

The 2011 Prospero Summer Blend by Metropolis Coffee

Nothing says summer like an iced coffee beverage.  Today's entry visits the vaunted Metropolis Coffee Company located in the Edgewater area on the north side of Chicago.   The have their own cafe and their coffee beans are sold in Whole Foods and other select coffee perveyors.  Many quality restaurants  also brew their coffee with Metropolis.  Metropolis takes a very clinical approach to roasting and their website has much information on how they go about their business.

On the web:  http://www.metropoliscoffee.com

Today I'm reviewing Metropolis' Prospero Summer Blend.  Their beans are packages in re-sealable tab bags with a one way air valve.  This blend is advertised as being geared toward iced coffee beverages, which makes it very attractive to this coffee nut.  In true scientific fashion, the label provides advice on appropriate brewing and concentration.  For hot coffee using these beans, Metropolis recommends 2 tbs ground coffee per 6-7 oz of filtered water and for cold drinks 2 tbs coffee per 3 oz filtered water poured over ice.


This coffee is extremely flavorful and the aromas hit you when the bag is cut open for the first time.  The beans are small in size, reminiscent of African and Middle Eastern beans, and pack a plum and citrus punch.  I found that citrus is the dominant flavor in this coffee with plum a close second.  The roast is medium so these flavors are not burnt out of the coffee.


The coffee was brewed in a french press at first.  Water was added to the press at around 190-195 degrees F and the coffee was allowed to steep for 4 minutes.  The crema that forms is syrupy and light in color and the press moved through the coffee very freely.  The citrus and plum aromas were very detectable when the coffee was poured.  Caramel is another advertised flavor note and I noticed its presence when I got toward the end of drinking my cup.  This was a nice way to finish up my morning coffee.  I also later brewed in the Vesuviana and achieved much the same results.

This is a great coffee hands down especially if you like coffees that have fruity notes.  I highly recommend trying this coffee on a hot or cold day.  My iced mochas were full of flavor and did a good job keeping me awake for hours and hours!  This is easily one of my favorite coffees and I'm sure it will be one of your preferences too.