Grown in the well-known Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia, this coffee comes from a collection of smallholder producers in the area of Nenke. In this region, coffee is a family crop – grown by households within small gardens, on less than one hectare of land.

Coffee grown in the Yirgacheffe is so well-known that it has been sub-divided into its own micro-region. This steep, green area is both fertile and high – much of the coffee grows at 2,000m and above. Coffees that are grown and processed in Yirgacheffe showcase an extremely diverse range of flavour profiles, and are noted for their intensely fruit-forward, tea-like, floral and complex character that is sought after worldwide.

This coffee has been processed using the natural method, which means the coffee cherries are dried whole with the fruit intact. After the coffee is carefully hand-picked by each producer – they are carried to the washing station. This is roughly an 8km journey for producers, and is normally done on foot, by donkey, or motorbike. Upon arrival, the cherries are immediately sorted to remove under and over-ripe cherries. Once sorted, the cherries are evenly dispersed on raised beds to dry in the open sun for 15 – 20 days.

After drying is complete, the cherries are trucked to the dry mill, located near the capital city, Addis Ababa. At the dry mill, a pre-cleaning machine removes foreign matter, metal, and stones. A huller removes the dried exterior fruit, and a polisher removes the parchment, and silver skin. Once perfectly polished, the coffee is graded based on screen size and placed in a gravity separator to remove lightweight and broken coffee beans. Colour sorters provide another layer of quality control, by removing defected beans. A final look by hand is done to ensure nothing was missed.