This Ethiopian coffee from the Canadian roaster September Coffee is a pour-over that tastes juicy, sweet, and very clean, yet has enough depth and body to keep you engaged even when sipped slowly. From the very first sip , ripe nectarine and sweet stone fruit reminiscent of dried apricot open up , complemented by a fresh berry note evoking blackberries and raspberries. The overall impression is light, bright, and very elegant, without any heaviness or an overripe natural flavor profile. September Coffee describes the cup as complex, juicy, and sweet, with a lighter body and a sweet finish. This is a coffee that doesn’t rely on wildness, but on pure fruitiness, harmony, and a very pleasant clarity of flavors, thanks to which additional layers gradually reveal themselves in the cup. If you enjoy modern Ethiopian coffee with bright fruitiness but without chaotic flavors, this is exactly the type of filter coffee you’ll want to come back to.
The coffee comes from Ethiopia, specifically from the Bare area in the Sidamaregion, and is produced by Eliyas Dukamo and Atiklit Dejene. Their Elto project is built on precision, innovation, and the production of high-quality micro-lots, including competition coffees. The name Elto itself has two meanings in the Sidama language: “abundance” and “more than passion,” which aptly captures their approach to quality and their work with origin. This lot consists of the JARC 74158 variety, which was approved by the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre in 1979 and was originally selected for its high yield and resistance to coffee berry disease. The coffee trees grow at an altitude of 2,200 to 2,300 meters above sea level, providing ideal conditions for slow ripening and the development of a distinctive yet elegant flavor. It is precisely this high altitude, the Sidama terroir, and the producers’ meticulous work that give this coffee its clean, sweet, yet very lively character. The harvest took place in 2025.
Processing is done using the natural method, which enhances the coffee’s deeper sweetness and more pronounced stone fruit character while still maintaining a very clean profile. September notes that the cherries are hand-picked, sorted, floated, and processed with meticulous care at every stage. Unlike their previous Elto lot, this specific JARC 74158 is processed as a natural, meaning that the pulp and natural sugars from the cherry remain on the bean during drying. This translates into greater sweetness, a slightly denser fruitiness, and a rounder profile in the cup, without the coffee losing its clarity or lightness. The result is a filter coffee that beautifully combines the sweetness of apricots, the juiciness of nectarines, and fresh berry notes, which together create a distinctive yet still very clean and elegant profile. It is a natural Ethiopian coffee that doesn’t come across as wild, but rather precise, sweet, and very confident.