Ethiopia - Tesfaye Bekele (Washed)

PEACH RINGS • LEMON CURD • OOLONG TEA

COUNTRY | Ethiopia
REGION | Odo Shakiso, Guji, Oromia
PRODUCER | Tesfaye Bekele (founder of Suke Quto Farm)
ALTITUDE | 2000 - 2200 masl.
PROCESS | Washed
VARIETY | Kurume, Welicho

ABOUT THE  PRODUCER + FARM

Tesfaye Bekele is one of the people who put Guji specialty coffee on the map. After a series of wildfires in the late 90s that destroyed 5,000 forest acres in the Guji region, Tesfaye was tasked with helping revitalize and conserve the area. Initially, when farmers returned to the land, they planted maize and teff, which led to soil erosion. With a background in Ethiopia's national forestry service, he campaigned for coffee as a regenerative, forest-compatible crop that helps revive the ecology and community livelihoods.

Today, Suke Quto Farm stretches over 221 hectares in the highlands of Guji. With shade-grown trees, the use of organic decomposition of fallen trees and plant matter, and other regenerative processes, the volcanic soil found on the farm is now extremely fertile.  After coffee cherries are picked, they are pulped with an Agared machine and fermented for about 35-48 hours. Then they are moved to raised drying platforms for a maximum period of 13 days.

Slurp this bright yet balanced coffee with some cloud jazz from Chicago-based Resavoir's "Themes for Dreams."