Michiti is a co-operative located in Kaffa in West Ethiopia. Traditionally coffee in this area has been natural processed where most of it ended up as commercial quality coffee. For the past 2 years Technoserve, a NGO funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, has helped several co-operatives implement modern washing and processing techniques. This has lead to a discovery of great coffees which have very different profiles than the classic washed Ethiopian cofees from Sidamo and Yirga Cheffe.

We cupped through a lot of coffees from this area this year. Even though the coffees are from a small micro region, they all cupped very different, but we found the coffee from Michiti to consistently be the best one on every cupping table. As the coffee is made up of small batches of cherries from several hundred smallholder farmers and is also grown in semi wild and wild forests, it is difficult to know what variety it consists of. The coffee is traditionally grown using organic practices, but this co-operative is not certified as a producer of organic coffee.

Co-operative: Michiti
Union: Kaffa Forest Coffee Farmers Co-operative union
Lot size: 1200 kg
Producer: Several smallholders
Harvest: December 2011
Origin: Chena, Kaffa, Ethiopia.
Growing conditions: About 1885 m.s.l. in volcanic soil. Coffee is grown in wild forests and semi-wild forests.
Botanical variety: Heirloom “Native Kaffa”
Process: The coffee is hand picked by the farmers and their families. After delivering the coffee to the co-operative it is then de-pulped and mechanically de-mucilaged. The parchment is soaked for about 10 hours overnight before it is dried on african elevated drying tables. Parchment is continuously sorted during drying to eliminate defects. After drying the coffee is kept in conditioning bags for two weeks before it is stored in warehouses before milling and exporting. The coffee is shipped and stored in grain pro bags.

Flavour description:
Intense aroma and flavours of flowers and sweet red berries.
Citric and berry like acidity. Juicy mouthfeel.
Sweet short finish with spicy character.

You can buy this coffee in our webshop.