Firecracker

Washed Burundi + Natural Burundi
📍Single O – 60-64 Reservoir St, Surry Hills

tldr – Single-O sent me their multi-purpose Firecracker blend and I like it as an espresso a pour over. You can go now.

I’ve been hosting Single-O’s Firecracker blend in my brewers and my portafilter trying to seek answers.

Why is Firecracker? What’s the meaning of its life? Who am Firecracker?

⏪ Rewind

Backdrop – 2003 – just over 20 years ago – that’s the year Single O was born. Back then blends were the trend and Single O were the enfant terribles pitching their single origins in their Surry Hills cafe.

They were onto something.

That was the start of Third Wave coffee and 11 years later they opened a roastery and distribution business in Tokyo, supplying green and roasted coffee to Japanese cafes and restaurants.

⏩ Fast forward

It’s 2025 and I find myself with a bag and box of parachutes from Single O, with love.

Single O and The Cru had somehow found my profile and wanted to send me the Firecracker blend… to try?

Actually it wasn’t clear what strings were attached to this ostensibly explosive bag of red bourbon.

All I knew for certain was that they wished to be tagged if I posted about it on social media. Wait – if I posted about it on social media…?

My uncle once told me:

There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

What is Firecracker anyway?

Firecracker (fīr′krăk′ər)

[a Single O blend] celebrating the Sumida Fireworks Festival in Tokyo.

This was also a head scratcher – why were Single O in Surry Hills in the middle of winter selling a blend that’s celebrating a summer fireworks festival on the Sumida river in Tokyo? .

A bit more about Firecracker

Legend has it that the Firecracker blend manifests itself every year (since 2017) like an ornithological myth to celebrate the Sumida Fireworks Festival 隅田川花火大会- a traditional display of pyrotechnic one-upmanship between competing pyro groups and that I have not seen.

Apparently the Single O team were just inspired by the festival and decided to make an annual blend as part of the celebrations.

A bit more about 隅田川花火大会

Wabi sabi refers to impermanence.

Sparklers, fireworks these are all things that have deep cultural meaning in Japan.

A sparkler blaze fizzling out – that’s wabi sabi.

I see the origins of the Sumida Fireworks Festival as a kind of wabi sabi.

According to Wikipedia, the festival was originally held for the dead, the living and the poor in 1732 during the Kyoho Famine. The fireworks were part of “mourning observances for the dead, as well as celebrations of life, and entertainment for the poverty-stricken masses”.

⏯️ Pause

Sumida Fireworks Festival takes place on the last Saturday of July. So I’ve very much been behind the ball with this post. But last check on the Single-O website shows that you can still nab yourself a bag or a box of ‘chutes.

But like is it any good?

Wait up – before I try to answer, let’s quickly talk about what was blended: two red bourbons (one washed, one natural) from two different washing stations in Burundi – Masha and Rimiro.

Imma put my neck out and say it’s a bit different to see a single origin blend made up of a single variety for retail. In competitions sometimes you’ll see blends made up of one part traditional processed variety and another part where the variety under went something to make it a Wild Child.

But a washed and natural red bourbon blend that just tastes like a solid red bourbon – it’s hard for it to stand out.

If you go out in Sydney looking for blends now you’re in the right year. Roasters have so many interesting processing methods to choose from and while there are some gaudy creations, there are also some very very good ones.

When I reach for a blend – I’m looking for taste – what was the roaster’s vision? How did they express it? Does this all translate in the cup?

Back to the question – is it good?

It’s a good daily driver. It’s not too fruity, not too acidic, good level of sweetness and medium body. And it’s good if you want to do both espresso and filter but don’t want to buy two bags – Single O say that it bangs as a spro, filter, batch, cold brew, not sure about milk.

I plug it into my La Pavoni to enjoy as espresso or v60/orea/flower/whatever as a pour over.

Is it $26 good?

Come on guys – we’re talking about smallholder produced coffee. It’s $26 (250g) good to support quality coffee from the smallholders that make up Masha and Rimiro.

▶️ Play

Team Firecracker has its work cut out.

It’s a blend of traditional bangers but if you were on the Sumida River or Sydney Harbour, what would you be more taken by – traditional bangers or modern dazzlers?

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Thank you so much to Single O and The Cru for sending me the coffee – I hope this doesn’t make things awkward 😬