Wote, Ethiopia

by Stephen Leighton February 20, 2015

This is the forth year in a row we’re buying coffee from the private wetmill in the local community of Wote. The producer is working in close relation to one of our partners for exports to increase quality through systematic work at the wetmill. The coffee from this producer is limited in amounts and the highest qualities are now exclusively sold through Nordic Approach who we’re buying the coffee through.

Yirgacheffe is known for its clean, floral and acidity driven washed coffees and “high quality” sundried with genuine and unique fruit and berry flavors. The area where this coffee is grown is again in our opinion having some of the most complex and intense coffee flavors in Yirgacheffe. There are mainly small family plots of both recently planted trees of improved varietals and traditional old varieties. Organic fertilizer is common, pruning less common.

Wetmill: Wote

Producer: Mr. Mergya

Zone: Gedeo, Yirgacheffe. Local municipality: Wote

Varietal: Ethiopian Heirloom. Improved varietals and native coffee of forest origin transferred to family smallholder plots and gardens. In this case they refer to it as Yirgacheffe type.

Producers: About 600 smallholders in the surrounding areas as well as remote farmers. Varietals:
Grade: Screen 14 and up.

Altitude: Coffee grown at 1800 - 2000 masl

Production: Pulped and wet fermented, graded in washing channels, soaked in water and sundried.
Process: Cherries are hand sorted for unripes and overripes by the farmers before they go in to production. A 3 disc Aagaarde pulper removes the skin and pulp. The coffees are then fermented under water for 24-36 hours, dependent on the weather conditions. It’s then graded in washing channels in to two grades based on density. It is then soaked under clean water in tanks for 12-254 hours.
Drying: Sun dried 10 – 15 days days on African drying beds on hessian cloths. Coffees are covered in plastic during midday and at night.

Soil: Volcanic deposits, rich in minerals and nitrogen.

Notes: The coffee is from an area with a lot of competition among the private producers and the Cooperatives. Mr. Mergaya have spent the last years to improve the preparation and processing of the coffees to meet the quality standards of the high end coffee market

Cupping notes: Juicy with notes of apricot, bergamot and lemon.

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Our roastery is located in Rosersbergs Industrial Area, a five-minute drive from Rosersberg train station. We have been roasting all our coffee on our turquoise 25 kilo Diedrich, since 2013.