Ethiopia/Gigesa Guji

Tastes Like: Molasses, White Grape, Peach

Region: Oromia, Guji

Process: Washed

Altitude: 1800-1950 MASL

There are around 850 smallholder farmers who tender cherry to the Gigesa Washing Station in Shakisso, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, which borders Sidama to the southeast. The average farm size is 2.5 hectares, with corn, grains, and false banana typically growing alongside the coffee, as well as Birbira, Wanza, and Acacia trees for shade. The wet mill uses clean river water to process its washed coffee, which are fermented underwater in tanks for 48 hours before being washed clean of its mucilage and dried on raised beds. 

Typically farmers in this region don't have access to and therefore do not utilize fertilizers or pesticides in the production of coffee. 

Coffees in Ethiopia are typically traceable to the washing station level, where smallholder farmers—many of whom own less than 1/2 hectare of land, and as little as 1/8 hectare on average—deliver cherry by weight to receive payment at a market rate. The coffee is sorted and processed into lots without retaining information about whose coffee harvest is in which bag or which lot.