MORE ABOUT

THIS COFFEE

This region of Kochere, is known for a flavour profile that is its own unique taste- different from Yirgacheffe, different from Guji- full bodied, fruity, candy-like and intensely aromatic. There are over 4,000 heirloom varieties that grow wild and cultivated in this region, all of which lend to the unique flavour profile of this lot from the Banko Gotiti washing station, in the village of Banko Gotiti.

There are very few coffee estates in Ethiopia, which is mostly due to the fact that coffee is traditionally a gathered crop, rather than agriculturally grown in the region. 95% of the coffee grown is in small gardens, about 2 hectares in average size, in anywhere from wild ‘coffee forests’, harvested and gathered by local residents to small gardens harvested by the landowner.

At the Banko Gotiti washing station, over 600 local coffee growers bring their freshly harvested coffee cherries for processing. As soon as the coffee is weighed and the producer is paid their initial payment for the coffee cherries, the fruits are laid out on raised beds for 12-15 days to dry with the fruit still on the coffee beans. While the coffee fruits dry, they are turned periodically to ensure even drying throughout. Once the coffee fruits have reached the optimal dryness, the skin of the coffee will turn into an almost leathery texture, which is easily removed to reveal the coffee seeds/beans within.

After the husks are removed from the coffee, the coffee is milled, graded and hand sorted to achieve the G1 certification, the highest quality standard available in Ethiopia. The coffee is bagged up in GrainPro bags and sent to Djibouti for export, where it will embark on the journey to the UK, about a 5 month journey in total from harvest to being available for sale.