Coffee Origin - Ethiopia

Ethiopia produces some of the best quality coffee available and is held in high esteem with coffee lovers. Production makes up 70% of all its earnings on export, with around 15 million Ethiopians working in the coffee industry.

Exciting flavours come from Ethiopian coffee and often have bright citrus acidity and floral aromas. Ripe fruit flavours can be present like bergamot or blueberry. The wide range of flavours found can be attributed to the high elevation of the 3 main growing regions Sidamo, Yirgacheffe and Harrar. With altitudes between 1400-2200 metres the coffee grows slower and denser meaning complex sugars have more time to develop in higher concentrations. Ethiopian coffee has traditionally been dry processed, where the coffee seed is dried inside the fruit, though wet process is becoming more common.

Ethiopia grows only arabica coffee, of which there are thousands of varieties many still wild and unclassified. Forest Coffee is the term used for such beans that are sourced from the wild by locals. Plantation Coffee grown on estates is much rarer, with the vast majority harvested being Garden Coffee, which is grown on smallholder plots consisting of a few trees. Coffee grown and harvested like this, which are not from of a cooperative or estate must go through the Ethiopian Coffee Exchange. The ECX uses a system of scoring coffee on quality and cup profile so farmers receive a fair price and prompt payment. Coffee from these smallholders are then mixed together based on grade and process method, meaning the buyer can not trace the coffee back to a single farm or variety.