Climpson & Sons: Ethiopia, Harenja, Washed

Our final Ethiopian release for 2018 comes from the Yirgacheffe region. With Ethiopia slowly unraveling some of their exporting processes, this coffee is unique for its traceability to a specific farm, owned by producers Gizaw & Frehiwot. Their commitment to lot separation, quality, & traceability results in a more refined cup profile. We find a complex and delicate balance of citrus, spice and florals.

The Harenja farm is located in the Negele Gorbitu area of Yirgacheffe. The farm is privately owned by G & F, the company and export name of married couple Gizaw and Frehiwot. G & F have actively worked on improving processing, quality control and traceability for a number years but only recent political changes have allowed producers to sell directly to European import partners.

With their own privately owned washing stations G & F are able to separate and process coffees by their specific farm area and harvesting dates. The higher quality traceable lots remain separated and are verified by the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange with a quality grading score issued on the way to export via Addis Ababa.

The Yirgacheffe region has almost always been synonymous with intensely floral and elegant cup profiles. The local heirloom varieties are descendant from native Typica found in the surrounding forests and the washed processing here is so rigorously controlled that the clarity of flavour is certainly no surprise. All cherries are hand sorted before being pulped and sorted again by density. The coffee is then allowed an extended fermentation time of 48 hours in clean water before further density sorting in washing channels. The parchment is soaked in fresh water once more for 6-24 hours before being moved to sun drying on raised beds for 10-15 days.