Metric Coffee

Every single origin in Metric Coffee's active catalog is washed. There are three of them, from Burundi, Kenya, and Mexico, and all three take the clean route rather than a natural or a fermented one. The other three active items are blends.

That is a short list, and the roaster does not pad it. Metric works out of the Midwest and roasts inside a narrow band. Four of the six land at medium-light. The remaining two sit at medium, and nothing in the catalog goes darker or lighter than that, which is a tight target for a roastery running a blend program and an origin program at the same time.

Blends carry half the weight, which says something about how the coffee is meant to be used. A rotating origin bag changes every few weeks by design. A blend is supposed to taste the same in March as it did in January. Both jobs are covered here, and neither side of the catalog has been allowed to grow at the expense of the other.

Single Origins

Blends

Roast Profile & Flavor Range

The histogram is two numbers wide. Four of six coffees are medium-light and two are medium. Acidity across the catalog averages out to the middle of the scale, and body sits just below the middle, which produces cups that read bright without a lot of weight behind them.

Processing on the single-origin side is washed straight across. Two of the three origins are East African and the third is Latin American, so the map is short but not narrow in character. Prices at the house weight of 10.5 ounces run from $20 to $27, with the median at $25. Note the bag size when you compare. These are 10.5 ounces, not twelve, so the per-ounce math runs higher than the sticker suggests. There is no decaf. If you need one, Metric is not the roastery.

What Metric Coffee Coffees Tend to Taste Like

Stone fruit is the most repeated note in the catalog and appears on four of the six coffees. Citrus follows on three, once specified as bright citrus. The two of them together set the shape of the house palate, which is fruit-forward and pointed at the front of the tongue rather than the back of it.

Underneath the fruit, the notes go quieter. Floral turns up twice. Black currant and black tea each appear once, alongside caramel and chocolate, and that last one is the only sign of a roasty register on the whole list. Two coffees are described as ending clean and two more as clean overall, so the finish is meant to clear rather than linger. Nothing here is heavy. Body averages just under the middle of the scale, and the notes agree with that reading.

Why Buy Metric Coffee

• Washed, straight across: All three single origins are washed. There is no processing lottery in this catalog.

• A two-step roast band: Four coffees at medium-light, two at medium, and nothing outside those levels.

• Blends held at half the shelf: Three of the six active coffees are blends, giving the everyday side of the lineup as much room as the rotating side.

• Fruit that stays light on its feet: Stone fruit on four coffees, citrus on three, and a body that averages below the middle of the scale. The cup clears and gets out of the way.

Is Metric Coffee Right for You?

Buy from Metric if you want washed coffee that tastes like its origin rather than like its processing. Three single origins, all of them washed, with no natural or fermented lots on the shelf. That is a clear position, and it holds across everything the roastery currently lists.

Skip it if you are shopping for fermented fruit bombs, or for a dark roast with real char in it. Neither exists here. Skip it too if you need decaf, since the active catalog has none, and skip it if you buy on price per ounce, because the bags are 10.5 ounces and start at $20.

Frequently Asked Questions