This lot from Ethiopia’s Koke Washing Station is an incredibly expressive and cloyingly sweet example of naturally processed Ethiopian coffee. The flavor profile of this coffee offers a very intense and vibrant experience full of tropical fruit, with pronounced notes of juicy pineapple and sweet melon taking center stage. This burst of fruit is elegantly complemented by an intoxicating floral aroma of roses and a candy-like sweetness. Thanks to its versatile roast profile, this coffee is perfect for both a lively and exciting espresso and for filter or batch brew preparations, where its clarity and lightness truly shine.
The beans come from the iconic Yirgacheffe region in the Gedeo zone, which holds a pivotal place in the history of Ethiopian specialty coffee thanks to the very first washing stations built there as early as the 1970s. Coffee trees here grow at an elevation of 1,870 to 1,900 meters above sea level, and this lot is composed of the traditional local varieties Dega, Kudhume, and Wolisho. These varieties are named after local indigenous trees, and each contributes specific characteristics to the blend—ranging from aromatic profiles to small cherries with high sugar density, to larger beans with complex acidity.
This entire coffee lot was processed using the traditional dry method, i.e., as natural coffee. The whole, hand-picked coffee cherries were, after rigorous selection, dried with their skins and pulp intact on African drying beds under the Ethiopian sun. During this slow process, the beans fully absorbed the natural sugars from the fruit pulp, giving the coffee its characteristic syrupy sweetness, full body, and intense tropical profile without losing its elegant floral clarity.