Ethiopia
Rachia
Aricha
Yirgacheffe
Idido
Gizat washing station
22000masl
Heirloom varieties 

Lemon sugar, lime zest, and earl grey tea.

Smallholder magic: This special microlot comes to us as a select lot from some of the 350 farmers in the village of Idido, Yirgacheffe. Here, the mantra is 'many hands make light work' with each farmer bringing ripe coffee cherries to the Gizat washing station, where the labourious task of sorting and grading begins.

Yirgacheffe: Iconic but ever-changing: The Yirgacheffe region is renowned for iconic flavours, but all is not quite as it seems, as no one rule fits all. Thick, plentiful vegetation, a warm tropical climate and moderate wet and dry seasons connect the small producers of Yirgacheffe. Yet, the greater region comprises a multitude of special and unique microregions, each unique unto itself. As traceability and direct sourcing have increased, we see more unique and complex coffee profiles standing out among the crowd. Small producers are cultivating and controlling micro-lots, with less being lost in the sea of larger washing stations and more making its way to us as undiluted single microregion lots or small-scale select blended lots.    

"The birthplace of coffee": The preceding phrase gets used a lot, and although it sounds pretty self-explanatory, there is more to it than just a championship-style belt or tagline. While Ethiopia indeed exports a lot of coffee, which it has in common with many coffee nations worldwide, it hasn't taken trees from elsewhere nor cultivated them as 'cash crops' in the same ways as many other parts of the world. We can see the implications of this with some pretty striking contrasts.

Usually, when we think of coffee farms, we generally think of vast, organised coffee plantations stretching as far as the eye can see. But going back to the birthplace of coffee, we see coffee's humble origins and importance in domestic life. 

Most Ethiopian farmers are smallholder sustenance farmers, often owning less than one hectare of land. It would be more accurate to describe these farms as 'coffee gardens' with plants thriving in intercropped wild and biodiverse forest gardens.

Because of their place historically and culturally, coffee gardens are an important part of life in Ethiopia. Coffee gardens offer financial opportunity, reliable income, nourishment through intercropping, and the added benefit of all of this contributing to self-sustaining biodiversity.  

Grading and sorting: There are various stages of grading and sorting at Gizat. The first is selective picking, the next is visual flatbed sorting, followed by density grading. When sorting and grading for density, specially made sorting channels are used to assess cherries based on density, and to remove any defective or colloquially referred to as 'floater beans'. 

Next up, the sorted and graded cherry is fermented in lots according to density and grade. Fermentation typically lasts for 36 to 72 hours, after which the washed process is completed.

Drying with Precision: Next up, the now fully washed seeds are laid out to dry on specially designed raised tables for 8 to 15 days. These tables are designed for consistent and constant air circulation and optimal temperature control.  This helps the cherries dry steadily and thoroughly (equalling more consistency and clarity in the cup). The green coffee is turned regularly to ensure even drying and to avoid any wet spots, which can result in issues like over-fermentation or mould.

Final Prep: Once the cherries hit the right moisture content (around 11.5-12%), they are carefully collected in their respective lots and stored in a local warehouse. Here, they undergo one further round of processing, where they are fine-tuned even further by colour, density, and size, before they are milled and ready to be shipped out.

Varietal: Heirloom is an umbrella term used to identify the abundance of wild indigenous coffees that grow in Ethiopia. Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, has seen a plethora of wonderful breeding, cross-breeding, and endlessly mutating coffee varietals that number in the thousands. As is often the case, once a desirable varietal is discovered (usually with particular flavour attributes in mind), it will be separated and cultivated on a small farm where it may later be identified as a new varietal. This is one of the things that makes sampling and selecting heirloom varietals so enticing—a surprise almost always awaits.