PROCESSING
HARVESTING
The farmers deliver fully ripen cherries to our cherry collection centers or washing/drying stations. We must harvest coffee cherries when they are fully ripe because ripest cherries yield beans with more sugar which gives coffee beans a complex cup profile. It needs concentrations, attention to detail, and commitment from our farmers.
NATURAL PROCESSING
We are specialized in only natural processed coffees, and we work in three woredas (Shakkisso, Uraga, and Haro wolabo) of East Guji. We focus on working with small groups and providing education for the farmers – teaching good agricultural practices and picking practices (only ripe red cherries). The freshly harvested cherries are delivered to the cherry collections centers or washing/drying stations where we go through intensive sorting to separate over and under-ripe fruit out from the lots. Then the coffee is immediately put out onto a raised African bed while it is still fresh to protect fermentation. Total drying times are around 21 – 28 days. The strict attention to detail here in the drying stage is what we think separates our coffees from the rest of the world. There are three key components to our technique – (a) only picking fully ripen cherries (b) lots of moving and turning of the coffee cherries on African beds, a minimum of six times per day, and (c) a very shallow bed of cherries, a maximum of one 4 cm. Because of the nature of drying the fruit around the seed, coffee processed this way is inherently packed with intense fruit flavors, but because of these specific protocols, coffees from us are particularly crisp and clean. You get all of the big fruit juice flavors and none of the murky over-fermented or over-ripe fruit flavors that can sometimes accompany a naturally processed coffee.
The body of our micro-lots is silky (mouth coating but not too heavy) and the acidity is playful and juicy. We’re tasting: raspberry, strawberry, pineapple, orange, cherry, lavender, coconut rum, brown sugar, milk chocolate, vanilla, sweet tea, tropical fruit, and complex.
REST
After the coffee cherries have been sufficiently dried, they are placed into jute bags, where they rest for a minimum of one month. This rest, also called mektet in Amharic, helps to settle beans and contributes to the development of overall cup quality.
HAND SORTING
Because of, a correlation between coffee bean quality, shape, size, density, and cup quality, beans need to be hand sorted at the drying station after hulled.
COLOR SORTING
After being hand sorted at farm /drying station, the remaining coffee beans go through the final step which is color sorting in Addis Ababa, capital of the country . We do color sorting by using a high technology machine that has sensors that are set to identify both primary and secondary defect beans (red, black ,white, sour/foxy and Yellow beans). Here we sort also broken and lighter beans by using gravity separator.
PACKING AND SHIPPING
After we completed milling and color sorting now coffee is ready to be packed and shipped. Our coffee is packed in jute bags inside ecotact or GrainPro bag zipper (Ultra-Helmentic) to protect coffee against moisture and odors by 60 kgs or 30 kgs. We put packed coffee inside food and safe containers carefully after we stuck craft paper inside an empty container. Finally, we transport coffee containers to Port, Djibouti port (as we are a landlocked country we use neighbor country port) where we put your coffee on the water to deliver to our clients around the world.