Ethiopia: Legacy and heritage

How are things progressing

These days you can get really good coffee with diverse flavours and fruity notes from many different parts of the world, thanks in large part to a growing market, loosening of many countries export laws and down to the interconnected world we live in leading to amazing advancements in processing and fermentation. Still, there is something singular about the combination of conditions and people that lead to Ethiopian coffee, beautiful subtly spicy and citric coffees from Sidamo, juicy layered coffees from Guji and milkshake sweet coffees from Yirgacheffe. We have always loved coffee from Ethiopia and will always buy a number of coffees from there each year following their harvest season which runs from November to January. Fresh crops are usually ready for export around late February to early March and depending on logistics we usually start to receive them here in Somerset anywhere from March through to August.

The word coffee comes from the Kaffa forest, and coffee has been cultivated in Ethiopia since at least the 1500, although wild plants were likely harvested from even earlier. These days the traditional way of brewing coffee using a ‘jabena’ , a type of traditional clay pot, is still common practice and the ritual of enjoying coffee and having conversations, meetings both important and ‘un’, is part of the fabric of Ethiopian life. The conditions for growing coffee in many parts of Ethiopia are very good, the plants are well naturalised to their conditions having grown well there for centuries, high altitudes and rich soils and good conditions in terms of ample sunlight but also periods of dry to give the plants the ‘stress’ required for fruiting. The most important factor is the people, one in four people are either working or directly connected to the coffee industry so it is a hugely important business for the country generating 30-35% of total exports. Most of our coffee buying in Ethiopia has been through our primary import partner Nordic Approach, they in turn work with exporters like Daye Bensa and SNAP to source exceptional coffees from amazing producers.

Now with the ability to buy more specific lots from specific places we are able to improve the traceability of our buying in Ethiopia.

This is an ongoing process and we are still developing our relationships in Ethiopia, for one thing we are very overdue to visit! Below are a few key places that we buy coffee from and a little info on them as well as links to any coffees that are currently available to buy. 

Washing station info

Biftu Gudina is the name of a cooperative that manages two processing sites just 300 metres apart along the Naso River. Along with Nano Challa, another co-op, Biftu Gudina is overseen by Kata Muduga Farmers’ Union, situated in the Barsoma Kebele of Geera District, Jimma Zone. We’ve been buying coffees from the cooperative for several years and are always impressed by the quality.

Soil in this region is particularly good for growing coffee, categorised as silt loam with high humus content and a slight acidity; it has a characteristic reddish dark brown colour. This combined with the high altitude (above 1900 metres) and experienced agronomy lead to excellent cherries that produce excellent coffee. The cherries are dry pulped using a PENAGO de pulper which reduces the water usage in processing, they are then tank fermented to remove mucilage for 8-12 hours. Following this they are dried on raised beds for 7-11 days with regular turning and during this time additional passes are made to pick out any defects.

Washing station info

Duromina is a cooperative established in 2011, with help from an NGO called Technoserve. They are located in Agaro near the border with Jimma in western Ethiopia. Before the establishment of the cooperative many of these farmers were producing much lower grade coffee and exclusively naturals. Over time quality has improved immensely to the point that now Duromina lots are always one of our most anticipated Ethiopian releases.

The Duromina lots come from smallholder farmers with between 0.5 and 3 hectares of land, often growing at altitudes exceeding 2000 Metres Above Sea Level. The coffee is mechanically depulped using a Penago Ecopulper which reduces water usage. Following this the coffees are soaked in clean water overnight and then dried on raised beds.

Washing station info

Danche is one of two washing stations in the Worka Chelbesa village owned by SNAP (the other one is called Chelbesa). The Danche Washing Station buys cherries from 742 farmers each with plot sizes of around one to two hectares on average. The altitudes of these farms are between 2000 and 2300 metres above sea level. We’ve been consistently impressed with coffees from the Danche wet mill.

The cherries for this lot were hand picked and sorted before being packed tightly into large plastic barrels where an airlock system prevents oxygen from entering. After 144 hours in the barrels the coffee is removed and laid out on raised beds where they are hand sorted to remove any broken cherries or visible defects as they dry.

The drying takes up to 10 days but most of the sorting will be done in the first day as once the cherry has dried to a deep uniform purple it becomes harder to spot defects.