Ayla is a privately-owned washing station that is located in the Bensa woreda(administrative district) in Ethiopia’s Sidama zone. It is located in the kebele (local village) of Bombe.

Sitting at 1,950m above sea level, Ayla produces exceptional washed and natural processed lots using the nearby Bonora river as its main source of fresh water. During harvest, freshly picked coffee cherry is delivered daily by some 700-800 independent outgrowers. The majority of the families who contributed to this lot farm organically on tiny plots of land, which average just 1-2 hectares in size. Coffee is their main cash crop and grows alongside food crops of corn, grain and bananas.

The average elevation of the farms in this region is very high – around 1,950–2,150m above sea level – and this, combined with the region’s cool temperatures, is ideal for the slow ripening of coffee cherries, leading to denser beans and a sweeter, more complex cup profile.

This coffee has been processed using the washed method, using clean water from the Bonora river. It is classified as Grade 1, the highest quality classification for Ethiopian coffees, indicating a great deal of effort has been put into the selection and grading during processing.

Each day, carefully hand-picked coffee cherries are delivered to the Ayla washing station and are meticulously sorted by hand and in a floatation tank prior to processing to remove unripe, overripe, or damaged fruit, in order to enhance the quality and sweetness of the cup.

After sorting, the coffee cherries are then pulped within six to eight hours of harvesting, to remove the fruit and skin and graded by weight; heavier beans are of superior quality and deliver a sweeter cup. After grading, the parchment-covered coffee is soaked in tanks of clean water for 36–48 hours to remove the mucilage (sticky fruit pulp) by allowing it to ferment and detach from the coffee. The coffee is then re-washed and graded again by density in washing channels and soaked in clean water for 12 hours.

The coffee is then dried on raised African drying beds and under a parabolic shadenet for 5-7 days depending on weather conditions. Whilst drying, the coffee is carefully hand-sorted, and any defects are removed. It is also turned regularly to ensure that it dries evenly and consistently. Once the coffee is dry and has reached its desired humidity, it is rested in parchment until it is ready for milling and export.