• image of natural Ethiopia label notes of blackberry, peach and watermelon
  • Image of Ethiopian Landscape
  • Image of coffee flowers in bloom
  • Image of trucks transporting coffee tin Ethiopia
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Natural Ethiopia

Natural Ethiopia

Floral and refreshing with a watermelon sweetness and mixed berry brightness complemented by elegant stone-fruit notes and a creamy body.

 

$29.00 CAD
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Technical Information

Producer: Various small-holder producers, Wuri Washing Station

Region: Gedeb Word, Gedeo Zone, Ethiopia

Harvest: November - February

Varietal(s): Ethiopian Heirloom

Process: Natural Process G1

Altitude: 1900-2200 masl

Agrton Gourmet Color: 102 (light)

Roasters Cupping Score: 88

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Coffee Story

Natural process Ethiopians are the coffees that first spark curiosity and love of coffee for many both inside and outside the specialty coffee industry.  This coffee is sourced form Gedeb, Ethiopia, a region known for elegant and nuanced coffees full of floral and assorted fruit notes.  The vast majority of producers in Gedeb are small landholders practicing subsistence farming alongside cash crops, of which coffee is one.  Due to the small production of individual producers in the region, most coffees coming out of Gedeb are consolidated at the washing station level.  This can contribute to some of the complexity seen in these coffees, dozens of varietals delivered by hundreds of producers resulting in coffees that are beautiful both in their general character and in the unique character they contribute to the overall lot.    

Varietal

Although Ethiopia has identified and established varietals, (by some accounts up to 10,000 unique varieties) most often Ethiopian coffees are labeled with the umbrella term Heirloom or Landrace.  Coffee is endemic to Ethiopia and the great majority of coffees from the country are a product of consolidation from large groups of small-holder producers who cultivate pure strains of Arabica varietals that have grown wild and have been naturally cross-breeding for centuries.  These coffees have not been hybridized or selectively bred, they are naturally occurring varietals growing in their native land.   

Processing

This is a natural process coffee. The cherries and harvested and delivered to the washing station. Upon arrival to the station, the coffees are floated in tanks where the good, ripe coffee sinks and the unripe and defective coffee floats to the top and is removed to be processed separately as commodity grade or lower-specialty grade coffee. The good coffee cherries are then removed from the tank and placed on raised drying beds to dry for up to a month. After drying, the coffee is sent to the dry mill where it is milled, sorted and prepared for export.

Terroir

Wuri is located in Worka, in the southern reaches of Gedeb, one of the highest-elevation coffee-growing areas within Ethiopia's Gedeo Zone. Coffee cultivation here takes place at elevations exceeding 2,000 meters above sea level, where cooler growing conditions contribute to the slow maturation of coffee cherries.

Coffee cultivation in this area is largely carried out by smallholder producers farming small garden plots. These traditional farming systems are an important part of the region's agricultural heritage and help preserve the diversity of indigenous coffee varieties.

The combination of high elevation, traditional cultivation practices, and genetic diversity creates the foundation for the distinctive character of coffees from Gedeb. In this naturally processed lot, those qualities are expressed through layered fruit sweetness, floral aromatics, and bright, juicy acidity.