Our first Ethiopian offer of 2021 has finally arrived, bringing with it those classic summer flavours we love from the birthplace of coffee. This lot was grown by Mrs. Desalech Mussie, a farmer who we are purchasing from for the first time this year. Mrs. Mussie and her family grow coffee on five and a half hectares of land in the kebele (roughly translated as ‘neighbourhood’) of Hafursa Waro, in the mountainous region of Yirgacheffe. Like most Ethiopian farmers, she raises local varieties of coffee trees - in this case Kumie, Diga, and Wilsho – genotypes exclusive to Ethiopia. Unique genetics alongside expert cultivation and processing creates flavours which are practically unheard of anywhere else, giving Ethiopia its well deserved reputation as arguably the world’s leader in coffee excellence.

Due to a complex web of historical, social and political factors, transparency and traceability in Ethiopia can be challenging. The country has literally hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers, but with an average farm size of only a half a hectare, individual farmers must typically aggregate their harvest with others to reach an exportable volume. On top of farm size, Ethiopian traditional values put the needs of their community over the individual, expressed throughout their society by strong co-operative organisations and by the concept of ‘yilugnta’ or selflessness. Many Ethiopians feel that the individual success of a person must be tempered by being community-minded, inclusive, and hospitable. These are some of the reasons that buying from individual farmers has been difficult and is still not common practice.

Mrs. Mussie, who has a larger farm by Ethiopian standards, grows enough coffee to separate into an individual lot, producing approximately 2400kg of coffee this year. Tracon Trading, an Ethiopia-based exporter, work with approximately 300 individual farmers as part of their program to promote direct-to-farmer transparency. Without their on-the-ground support, this type of relationship simply wouldn’t exist in a context like Ethiopia, so we are very grateful to Tracon and our import partners at Olam for the opportunity to work with Mrs. Mussie’s coffee.

This year, each of our Ethiopian offerings will raise money for Project Waterfall, a charity whose current project is building clean water and sanitation facilities for communities in Ethiopia. Not only is clean water a human right, it is also one of the most important protections against COVID-19. As coffee lovers, many of us look forward to Ethiopian coffee season every year. What better way to celebrate this beautiful and foundational country - coffee’s original origin - than to give back to those who live there. 

  Caravan Coffee Roasters are proud members of 1% for the Planet. For more information please visit https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org

BREWING GUIDE 

Coffees from the Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia are known for being extremely floral - and this lot is no exception. Huge aromatics of lavender, honeysuckle and coffee blossom (similar in smell and appearance to jasmine) make this an excellent brew for the connoisseur - and a wild ride for the novice! For this level of complexity we always reach for a pour over, as the precision and clarity we find in a dialled-in Hario V60 or Kalita Wave really allows this coffee to shine. Start with a ratio of 60g of ground coffee per 1 litre of fresh, filtered water, and adjust to taste. For more brewing tips and tricks, visit our Brew Guides page.