EXISTENCE ENSNARED, Ethiopia

Lavender, Cocoa, Cherry

This Ethiopian Coffee is produced in the region of Gedio, Kochere, on a 200-hectare farm grown across an altitude of 1900m – 2000m. Grown on a red fertile soil, paired with the overall topography and the average temperature of the region, ensures that flowering begins in August, with harvesting starting between November and December.

Anaerobic processing method was introduced to the region in 2020. The process is to ‘ferment’ the coffee in a fully sealed and oxygen deprived fermentation bags or tanks. The cherries are first collected and separated to remove any floaters to ensure only the deep red cherries are used in the next steps of this processing method.

Once the cherries have been sorted, they are placed in large plastic bags in which a vacuum is used to remove all the oxygen inside. The time the cherry is spent in ‘fermentation’ is decided based on the temperature gauge reading. Higher temperatures mean the ‘fermentation’ time will be short, while cooler temperatures lead to longer time periods. Temperatures remain below 25°C throughout the whole fermentation process.

Typically, the cherries will be fermented for 4-5 days, however this lot was left in the bags for 20 days. This allows for the mucilage to have a longer contact time with the coffee seed and for the flavours of the sweet fruit to impart on the coffee bean. This intensive processing technique results in highly fruity coffees with wild funky flavours.

When the process is complete, the bright red cherry colour has changed to yellow tones. Once carefully removed from the tank, the coffee is dried slowly for 20-25 days on African drying beds in the full sun.