Frinsa Honey #2

Out of all the coffees I've received, this is my least favorite. It left me wanting more flavor and feel. It seemed to be lacking in aroma when ground, and then that trend continued through the brewing and taste as well.

After the other Frinsa anaerobic offering here I expected the flavors to be quite pronounced, but this is a very light and mild offering. I feel like you could convince someone this was flat-out tea if you hid the color of the liquid from them. Interestingly, when I brewed using the Hoffmann V60 method at a slightly coarser grind setting than I usually use (I start coarser and go fine to dial in), my draw-down was almost 4:30 (I usually get 3-3:30 on the untabbed Hario papers at a finer setting). You'd expect it to be bitter, then, but no - the flavors were almost imperceptible, with the exception of some vanilla coming in when it cooled almost fully. I switched to the 4:6 method and got some very pleasant sweetness then and a more distinct green tea-like flavor; though still not exactly what I associate with fermented coffees. It's not really my thing but I imagine those who truly seek out tea-like coffee will adore this if they can figure out a brew method that works for them.

I was undecided on how to rate this coffee, but I think it’s something you have to be in the mood for. It is very light bodied, and not as fruity as I’m used to MCC coffees being. The flavor description of green tea, vanilla, and mandarin is spot on, but I could only notice it after the coffee had cooled to lukewarm. When hot, it was simply nondescript and light to me. Overall, I like it as a change of pace brew, but it definitely couldn’t be an every day coffee for me as it’s too light bodied and subtle in flavor for my typical enjoyment