Root and Branch | Bale Mountain | Ethiopia

Batch Coffee Review UK | Root and Branch Coffee Roasters Belfast | Finding the Best coffee in the UK

On a recent trip to Belfast, I was lucky enough to visit the Root and Branch coffee in Belfast which is located in an old linen mill. They neighbour a microbrewery and a couple of other independent businesses that all come together to make a really cool collective that is definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in Northern Ireland.

With many similarities to Manchester, finding a roastery that is set in an old Mill made me feel like I was at home. But another common love between the two cities is our passion for beer which makes their unique packaging rather fitting. Apart from the fact that it does just jump out at you and looks pretty sexy it also is quite practical and is 100% recyclable.

The Bale Mountain coffee was recommended as one I needed to try if I wanted to try something a little different and I’m always drawn to Ethiopians anyway.

To start the coffee has a wonderful sweet fragrance that is somewhat ironically hoppy. It has an inviting dark fruit smell that makes you just want to grind it and brew and stop just smelling it.

The coffee has a bright and well-balanced body, the fragrances of the unground coffee carry through into the cup and evolve into more subtle fruity notes. The cherry for me was quite prevalent which is one of my favourite flavours. It interesting developed into a slightly lighter mouthfeel once cooled and carried a slight citrus taste.

Bale Mountain by Root and Branch was a superb coffee, the unique and bold packaging transcended into their coffee which did not disappoint. It may be a little much for the speciality coffee newbie, but I’m sure one of their array of single origins is a little safer.

I always try to brew each coffee with as many different methods as possible so I used my full arsenal of coffee paraphernalia on Root and Branch. Although it didn’t underperform in any method, the best for me had to be V60, clean, crisp and juicy!

Coffee ReviewsTom5 December 2019Root and Branch Coffee Roasterscherries, Citrus fruits, Ethiopian Coffee, Natural Process, northern Ireland

How We Review Coffee?

We receive coffees from roasters throughout the UK to taste and review. All of our coffee reviews are our own words and thoughts, we don’t receive any form of payment for any of our reviews.

Our coffee reviews always start with an introduction to each independent coffee roaster.

At Batch, we are all about celebrating the incredibly talented roasters that we have in the UK and telling their stories. Each one roasting the coffee slightly different.

We then explore the origin of the coffee and take a look at where the coffee has been grown and the process that it has gone through once it has been picked.

Every coffee growing origin has a different set of characteristics when it comes to the final cup, whether it’s fruity and floral or chocolatey and full the origin of speciality coffee is always celebrated.

The last part of our coffee review is what we tasted in the coffee. Speciality coffee has some incredible flavour notes (more than wine), some dark and rich while others on the opposite end of the flavour spectrum are light and fruity, we try and explain what we taste in the coffee however like with many complex tasting foods or drinks it is also down to perception and personal opinion.

So if we have tasted orange zest and you get watermelon then that is brilliant and what we think speciality coffee is all about (as long as you like the coffee).

We then score the coffee on attributes like body, aroma, sweetness and flavour. Some of the coffees you may then find in our coffee club voted the best coffee subscription in the UK by the Independent.

How To Make The Best Coffee At Home?

There are many ways to extract the best flavour out of coffee. Take a look at our coffee guides for some tips on how to make your coffee the best it can be.

Where’s The Best Coffee Grown?

Coffee is grown all over the World however, speciality coffee is only within 20 degrees of the equator. It makes specialist coffee rarer than commodity-grade coffee with the added fact that it gets better the higher it is grown.

There are many great coffee growing regions in the world, in Asia, there is Indonesia and India that produce lots of great coffee.

Africa, the birthplace of coffee has numerous coffee-growing countries, Ethiopia, Kenya, Burundi and Rwanda are known for excellent coffee.

South America has quality as well as quantity produced, some amazing coffees come out of Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Central America also has some world-class coffee growing regions, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua grace many cupping tables.

There are also many other countries that produce excellent coffee.

COFFEE REVIEWS

Root and Branch | Bale Mountain | Ethiopia

How We Review Coffee?

How To Make The Best Coffee At Home?

Where’s The Best Coffee Grown?