Ethiopia Guji G1 Washed - Arsosala

Apricot, nectarine, blackberry, hops
TOP LOT
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Bag Weight 60 Kg Bags
Harvest Season 2021/22
Status Spot
Lot Number P609493-1
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    About This Coffee

    This Grade 1, wet processed coffee is from the Arsosala Washing Station in the highlands of southern Ethiopia, located in the village of Uraga region in the Guji Zone. The approximately 1200 farmers who deliver to this washing station are smallholders growing coffee on just a few hectares above 1600 meters. The coffee plants are Ethiopians heirloom varietals. During milling the coffee is fermented for 24-36 hours depending on weather, washed and then dried on raised beds for one week while final quality sorts are conducted. Established in 2002, the Guji region is named after the Guji Oromo people, a clan within the larger Oromo ethnic group that have been farmers in the region for centuries.

    Country of Origin Ethiopia
    Harvest Season 2021/22
    Bag Type Grain Pro / Ecotact
    Plant Species Arabica
    Processing Washed
    Variety Ethiopia Heirloom
    Region Uraga woreda
    Farm Name Various smallholders
    Wet Mill Arsosala Washing Station

    History of Coffee in Ethiopia 

    Coffee is ancient in Ethiopia, but coffee farming is not. By the end of the 9th Century coffee was actively being cultivated in Ethiopia as food, but probably not as a beverage. It was the Arab world that developed brewing. Even as coffee became an export for Ethiopia in the late 1800’s, Ethiopian coffee was the result of gathering rather than agricultural practices. A hundred years ago, plantations, mostly in Harar, were still the exception, while “Kaffa” coffee from the southwest was still harvested wild. In 1935, William Ukers wrote: “Wild coffee is also known as Kaffa coffee, from one of the districts where it grows most abundantly in a state of nature. The trees grow in such profusion that the possible supply, at a minimum of labor in gathering, is practically unlimited. It is said that in south-western Abyssinia there are immense forests of it that have never been encroached upon except at the outskirts.” 

    Growing Coffee in Ethiopia

    As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia is home to more species of coffee plants than any place on earth, much of it still growing wild, and much of it still undiscovered. All Ethiopian coffee is Arabica and at least 150 varieties are commercially cultivated. Traditionally, these have simply been labelled as “heirloom varietals”; however, this is changing as the Jimma Agricultural Research Center works to identify species. Although there are a few estates in Ethiopia, 95% of coffee is grown by small land holders in a wide variety of environments, including “coffee forests” where coffee grows wild and is harvested by the local people. All specialty grade Ethiopian Coffee is grown above 4,000 feet and most above 6,000. In the highlands of Sidamo and Yirgacheffe, coffee can grow above 7,000 feet.

    • Region Uraga woreda
    • Farm Name Various smallholders
    • Wet Mill Arsosala Washing Station
    • Processing Washed
    • Bag Type Grain Pro / Ecotact
    • Plant Species Arabica
    • Variety Ethiopia Heirloom
    • On Sale No
    • Top Lot Yes
    • Status Spot
    • CTRM Contract Number P609493-1
    • Country of Origin Ethiopia

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