This month we had a little “fall cleaning” in our warehouse and I have selected many small and exclusive lots that we will send out to our subscribers, along with one of our 2021 Christmas edition coffees. It is the first time we roast and send out a washed coffee from the farm Echemo in Ethiopia. A coffee that has distinct flavours of stone fruit, honey and flowers with hints of mint and spice.
The second coffee I have selected is a natural processed coffee from Tatmara. We sent out a 74112 cultivar earlier this year but this month we are sending out a slight cleaner 74110 cultivar (yes, there is a typo in the movie. Sorry for that)
For the 3rd / 6th bag we are sending out a myriad of small and exclusive lots. Among them are two coffees we have never tasted before; the first harvest of the Pacamara cultivar from Nacimiento and the Ethiopian Harar cultivar from Los Pirineos.
Echemo Organic 1st & 4th bag
Flavour notes: Stone fruit, floral & honey
Producer: Khalid Shifa
Harvest: December 2020
Origin: Goma, Jimma, Ethiopia
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Heirloom from Coche forest
Organic certified by Debio NO-ØKO-01
Echemo is a 35 hectare coffee farm located at 2100 masl in Goma, Jimma , close to the town Agaro. It is owned and farmed by Khalid Shifa who inherited his farm from his Grandfather. Khalid is mainly growing old cultivars that was planted by his grandfather many years ago.
When establishing the farm, Khalid’s grandfather selected seeds from wild coffee trees from the the nearby Coche forest and the trees he planted are still producing well today. Most of the old trees are so tall that you are literally walking underneath a canopy of coffee trees on the farm. Workers even have to climb the coffee trees in order to harvest the cherries.
Khalid recently built a new wet mill on his farm. He is now able to produce washed coffees whereas before we were only able to buy natural- and honey processed coffees from him. Interestingly I find his washed coffee to be much more expressive and flavourful with more of the classic citrus, stone fruit and floral flavours that is so common for the best Ethiopian coffees. This coffee is organic certified.
Tatmara Coffee Plantation 2nd & 5th bag
Flavour notes: Pineapple, strawberries & tropical fruits
Producer: Negussie Tadesse
Harvest: December 2020
Origin: Dakiti, Kaffa, Ethiopia
Process: Natural
Cultivar: 74110
Tatmara is one of the most beautiful coffee plantations I have ever been to. The coffee grows inside a native forest full of old native trees, spice plants, shrubs and wildlife. Negussie does not apply any mineral fertilisers or agrochemicals to his farm and weed control is done manually. Still the trees are healthy and producing well which is most likely due to the healthy forest soils that are rich in soil biology that provide the trees with nutrients. I personally believe that these coffees are so complex, full of flavour and easy to extract not only because of the cultivar that are grown but because they grow slowly under shade trees in very healthy soils in their native environment. (After all the arabica coffee trees are native to the forests of Kaffa. ) Of course the natural process also contributes with extra fruity flavours as well.
Negussie has mainly planted two different cultivars named 74110 and 74112 on his farm that he separates when picking and processing his coffees. Both cultivars are selections made by the Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC) and although they have very similar qualities, there are some subtle nuances in the flavour profile. The two cultivars begin with the number “74” that indicates their cataloging and selection in 1974. The 74110 cultivar was selected from an original “mother tree” in the Bishari village of the Metu Province in the Illuababora zone. After research in their field laboratory (coffee farm) in Jimma, the JARC researchers found the cultivar to be resistant to coffee berry disease and to have a high yield potential. JARC released the cultivar in 1979 as a new and improved cultivar and since then it has become one of the most popular cultivars in Ethiopia known for its floral and citric flavour profile. A few months ago we sent out the 74112 cultivar but this month we are sending out the 74110 cultivar. I find this particular lot to be more precise and even cleaner in taste than the 74112 lot we sent out a few months ago, but that might be due to the drying and not necessarily the cultivar.
3rd & 6th bag:
For the third bag of coffee we are doing a bit of «fall cleaning» in our warehouse. I selected 6 different lots that we have bought throughout the year, but that are either too small to send out to all our subscribers or some leftovers from previous shipments. The one thing all these lots have in common is that they ar unique and delicious coffees from some of the producers we buy from. If you subscribe to 3 bags or more you will not get all of these coffees but one of them. If you subscribe to 6 bags we will try to make sure you get two different ones but please bare in mind that all these coffees are in small quantities, so we might not have enough to give all of you two different ones. Below is a list of all the coffees we are roasting and sending out:
Nacimiento Pacamara
Flavour notes: Dark chocolate, pickled ginger & orange peel
Producer: Jobneel Caceres Dios
Harvest: March – May 2021
Origin: El Sauce, Santa Barbara, Honduras
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Pacamara
This is the first harvest from Jobneel’s new farm in El Sauce, not far away from Nacimiento. He planted Pacamara there a few years ago and this is the fist time we taste and buy this coffee. we received 90kg in total this year but used 60kg for testing the roast profile. It means we only had 30kg left to send out.
Caballero Java
Flavour notes: Oolong tea, floral & white chocolate
Producer: Marysabel Caballero & Moises Herrera
Harvest: February 2021
Origin: Chinacla, La Paz, Honduras
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Java
We sent this Java out earlier this summer, but had 30kg left of the green coffee. I find it to be even more open and expressive now.
Caballero SL28
Flavour notes: Berries, red apples & milk chocolate
Producer: Marysabel Caballero & Moises Herrera
Harvest: February 2021
Origin: Chinacla, La Paz, Honduras
Process: Washed
Cultivar: SL28
We sent this SL28 out earlier this summer, but also had 30kg left of the green coffee. It is for sure tasting more fruity and less herbal now than it did this summer.
Caballero Ethiopian
Flavour notes: Rhubarb, floral & stone fruit
Producer: Marysabel Caballero & Moises Herrera
Harvest: February – March 2021
Origin: Chinacla, La Paz, Honduras
Process: Washed
Cultivar: «Etiopian»
An Ethiopian cultivar grown by the Caballero family in Honduras. We were nly able to buy 60kg of this rare coffee from the Caballeros this year.
Los Pirineos Harar
Flavour notes: Mango, strawberry & lime
Producer: Fabiola & Diego Baraona
Harvest: February 2021
Origin: Tecapa-Chinameca, Usulutan, El Salvador
Process: Honey
Cultivar: Ethiopian Harar
This is the first time we are able to buy this Ethiopian cultivar named «Harar» From Los Pirineos in El Salvador. Gilberto (RIP) planted a lot of new and exotic cultivars on his farm during the last 10 years and we are finally able to offer some of this delicious coffee now produced by his son and daughter Diego and Fabiola.
Gachatha
Flavour notes: Winey, blackberries & blackcurrants
Producer: Several smallholder farmers
Harvest: December 2020
Origin: Nyeri, Kenya
Process: Washed
Cultivar: SL28, SL34, Batian & Ruiru 11
We had 30kg left of this delicious Peaberry from Nyeri in Kenya. A «classic» Kenyan coffee with loads of blackcurrant and winey flavours.
Thanks for reading and as always, we hope you enjoy the coffees and learning from our monthly videos. If you need some brewing tips, visit our website.
I hope you will enjoy the coffees
Tim W