This month’s coffees are shaped by both the unique conditions and the long-standing culture of coffee production here, where a myriad of heirloom varietals grow in biodiverse systems to produce complex and delicious cups.

Danche is a washed lot grown in Yirgacheffe; we find a deep sweetness, reminiscent of tinned peaches, underpinning the aromatic top notes of jasmine and citrus.

Shakiso was naturally processed in Guji, with a deep and complex fruit character, reminiscent of aromatic stone fruit, elements of red berries and floral aromatics.

Ethiopia

Both of this month’s coffees come from Ethiopia, one of the most intriguing coffee countries we work in. The rich culture and history of the Ethiopian people lead to a complex mosaic of impressions across the country, where travelling is a true privilege. Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa, and the world’s most populous landlocked country, leading to a wide and varied tapestry of ancient rural cultures which have been maintained due to Ethiopia’s status as one of the only countries in Africa which was never officially colonised.

While the capital Addis Ababa is generally safe, civil unrest between Ethiopia’s many ethnic groups has become a factor, especially since 2018, including the war in Tigray between 2020 and 2022. This has also affected coffee regions, for example delaying last year’s harvest in Guji due to ongoing unrest. However, through all of this, Ethiopia continues to produce excellent coffee, a testament to the resilient and hard-working rural population. Coffee is Ethiopia’s largest export, producing nearly half a million tonnes each year, and bringing in more than a third of Ethiopia’s total foreign income.

Ethiopia is fairly unique compared to other coffee producing countries, in part due to its lack of colonial past and associated resource extraction, in that more than half of the coffee produced here is consumed in the country. Ethiopia’s proud and rich history with coffee is clear to see all over the country, where coffee consumption is an event celebrated with the famous coffee ceremony.

In Ethiopia, coffee still grows semi-wild, and in some cases completely wild. Apart from some regions of neighbouring South Sudan, Ethiopia is the only country in which coffee is found growing in this way, due to its status as the genetic birthplace of arabica coffee. This means in many regions, small producers still harvest cherries from wild coffee trees growing in high altitude humid forests, especially around Ethiopia’s famous Great Rift Valley.

Forest coffee makes up a great deal of Ethiopia’s yearly output, so this is a hugely important method of production, and part of what makes Ethiopian coffee so unique. Deforestation is threatening many of coffee’s iconic homes in Ethiopia, leading to dwindling yields and loss of biodiversity; significant price fluctuations over the past decade have led many farmers to replace coffee with timber in the form of fast growing and reliable eucalyptus, an incredibly demanding crop in terms of both water and nutrient usage.

Coffee in Ethiopia

Throughout the endemic Ethiopian systems, a much higher level of biodiversity is maintained than in modern coffee production in much of the rest of the world. This is partly due to the forest system, and partly down to the genetic diversity of the coffee plants themselves. There are thousands of ‘heirloom’ varieties growing in Ethiopia; all descended from wild cross pollination between species derived from the original Arabica trees. 

This biodiversity leads to hardier coffee plants, which don’t need to be artificially fertilised. This means that 95% of coffee production in Ethiopia is organic, although most small farmers and mills can’t afford to pay for certification, so can’t label their coffee as such. The absence of monoculture in the Ethiopian coffee lands also means plants are much less susceptible to the decimating effects of diseases such as leaf rust that have ripped through other producing countries.

Maintaining these systems is important, both within the context of the coffee industry, and for wider biodiversity and sustainability.

Our primary partners in Ethiopia, Moplaco, have made it their mission to inform of this destruction, and to continue supporting the communities they work with in order to make coffee a profitable and attractive business for smallholder farmers.

Danche

This washed lot was processed at SNAP Coffee’s washing station in the village of Danche, located in the Chelbesa area of Yirgacheffe. During our trip to Ethiopia in February, we cupped several tables of excellent coffees from this year’s harvest at SNAP’s headquarters in Addis Ababa. Coffee for this lot was delivered by smallholders surrounding the village, before undergoing washed processing with SNAP’s meticulous team. The conditions here in coffee’s genetic home are well-suited to growing high quality lots, with long dry spells during harvest, and high levels of sun intensity year round. This, along with fertile soils and bio-diverse eco-systems leads to some of the finest quality raw material we see in coffee, and requires minimal influence from processing to produce excellent cups. 

This lot from Danche is no different, delivering on the typical Ethiopian white florals, and delicate citrus tea in the cup.

Shakiso

This lot was produced on Ismael Hassen Aredo’s Kayon Mountain farm in Guji, near the coffee centre of Shakiso. The farm is nearly 500 hectares, one of the largest in the region, and unusual in a country dominated by many smallholder farmers. In order to preserve the native coffee growing culture of Ethiopia, Ismael has only planted about half of the farm with coffee, and maintained native shade trees and the majority of the forest. He employs 25 workers year round in order to care for the farm, pruning and cleaning in order to maintain harmony with the forest.

Once cherries are picked, they are sorted and placed directly on raised beds. The dry and hot conditions during harvest allow for careful and consistent control of natural drying, covering the drying beds with tarps during the most intense hours of sun to protect from damage and slow the drying. Coffee is turned often, and hand sorted at several stages during processing to ensure cleanliness. This creates a very clean and rich expression in the cup, with a great deal of clarity, especially in the aromatics. 

In the case of Shakiso, we find soft stone fruit and red berry character underpinning the aromatic top notes of bergamot and orange blossom.

It’s a privilege to travel in Ethiopia.

Each trip is an attempt to understand the ever-changing facets of Ethiopia’s coffee chain, but also to uncover the history, culture and people that have formed the complexity and beauty of modern Ethiopia. We’re excited to present these two examples of Ethiopian coffees this month, and hope you enjoy both.