What is Homestead Blend?
The fruit-forward Stumptown, and the only one here that publishes its processing method.
Stumptown publishes a blend of its finest Direct Trade, fully washed coffees from Central and South America and East Africa, with tasting notes of milk chocolate, cherry and orange. The bag is 12oz, sold as a pack of two.
Fully washed is the processing note, and it explains the fruit
Washed coffee tastes cleaner and more acidic, and that is a processing decision rather than a bean one.
After picking, coffee cherries have to have the fruit removed. In a natural process the cherry dries on the bean, and the sugars ferment into it, giving heavy, jammy, boozy flavours. In a washed process the fruit is stripped off first and the bean is fermented in water to remove the last mucilage, then dried clean.
Washed coffee therefore tastes of the bean rather than the fruit around it: brighter, cleaner, more acidic, with the origin's character showing more clearly. The cherry and orange notes here are the coffee's own acidity, not residue from the fruit.
Almost no coffee on this site publishes its processing method, and it is one of the four or five facts that genuinely predict how a cup will taste. That Stumptown states it is worth more than most of what appears on a bag.
East Africa is what makes it different from Founder's Blend
The same roaster, one added region, and a completely different cup.
Founder's Blend is Central and South America alone: chocolate, vanilla, soft. Homestead takes that base and adds East African lots, which is where the citrus and stone fruit acidity comes from.
East African coffee, particularly Ethiopian and Kenyan, is the source of almost every bright fruit note in specialty coffee. Adding it to a Latin American base is the standard way to build a blend that has both structure and lift, and it is what Hair Bender does too, with Indonesia added underneath.
How to brew it so the fruit shows up
A washed, acidic medium roast is the least forgiving coffee in this range.
Under-extract it and cherry and orange read as sour rather than fruity, which is the usual reason people decide they dislike bright coffee. The fix is a slightly finer grind and a slightly longer contact time than you would use for a dark roast.
It also shows best in a brewer that keeps the cup clean. A paper pour over suits it; a French press metal filter passes oils and fines that muddy exactly the clarity you are paying for here. The scale matters more for this bag than for the dark roasts, because the margin for error is narrower.
Is Homestead worth it?
Worth it if you want to taste fruit in coffee. The wrong bag if you do not.
It publishes more than almost anything else on this site: regions, processing method, Direct Trade, tasting notes and a roast date. For somebody learning what washed East African acidity tastes like, it is a good and unintimidating way in.
Stumptown publishes no farm, no altitude, no varietal and no organic certification for this blend, unlike Founder's Blend and French Roast. Two 12oz bags, two weeks per opened bag.
Who should buy it (and who should not)
Buy it for filter coffee, drunk black.
It suits a pour over, somebody with a decent grinder, and anybody who has enjoyed a bright coffee in a cafe and wants it at home.
Do not buy it for milk drinks, where the acidity clashes and the delicacy is lost. Do not buy it for a French press. And do not buy it if a poor grinder means you cannot control extraction, because this is the bag that punishes that.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does fully washed mean?
The fruit is removed from the bean before drying, rather than dried onto it. Washed coffee is cleaner and more acidic and tastes of the bean rather than the fruit.
Why does it taste of cherry and orange?
The East African component. That region is the source of most bright fruit acidity in specialty coffee.
Is it organic?
No. Founder's Blend and French Roast are the organic ones in this range.
What brewer suits it?
Paper pour over. A press passes oils and fines that muddy the clarity this blend is built on.
Why does mine taste sour?
Usually under-extraction. Grind a little finer and give it longer.
