This lot comes from the Arbegona highlands in Sidamo, where the coffee was grown at altitudes averaging 2200 metres above sea level (high even for Ethiopia!). Coffees from this part of the country can be just so incredibly special and we’re happy to be able to release this now when we’re coming to the end of the 22/23 harvest a few months away from being able to release the 23/24 season fresh crops! This one has big florality and sweetness and giving us notes of Papaya and Raspberry Tart. A real tasty dessert of a coffee!
We bought this coffee from Falcon, a specialty importer we really love working with. They bought it from Exporter Daye Bensa who have a really good reputation in the region. Arbegona is also the name of the washing station where this coffee was processed. The station works with 391 small holder farmers who sell their cherries there, on average they have between 3 & 5 hectares of coffee growing land. For this season (22/23) the farmers were paid between 70-80 Ethiopian Birr/ kg of cherry (98p - £1.12) with an additional off season payment of 3-5 Birr/kg (4-7p) these prices sound very low but are actually better than those paid at a lot of Ethiopian washing stations. Additionally it is important to note that the conversion of ripe cherry to parchment through the process of producing coffee for export means that 5-6 kilos of cherry are needed to produce 1 kilo of green. For these small hold farmers coffee is the main cash crop but additionally they will grow sugar cane ‘false banana’, spices and vegetables.
This lot was processed as a natural, the cherries were sorted based on density and quality by floating them in large water tanks, following this they were transferred to African raised beds with mesh nets for drying. Whilst on these drying beds the cherries were rotated every 30 minutes for even dryness and to control the fermentation. On average this process takes 12-15 days and is of course very labour intensive!
Following this drying the coffee is stored in parchment prior to milling in order to further mature and develop flavour as well as bring water activity and moisture content to levels that make it more stable for export.
Elevation: 2200 metres above sea level
Varietal: mixed landrace
Cup Score: 88
Price paid per kilo: £12.82 per kg
