Ethiopia - Yirgacheffe

Yiragacheffe is always known as a stand out coffee. It has distinct smells and flavours that go beyond any other growing region. This Yiragacheffe in particular has an overwhelming smell of mangos and raisins. It has been roasted to point to not lose it's fruitiness bursts which is then followed by a lingering tea leaf feel. It is a specialty coffee nerd's dream of complexity.

The land area is 2.5 hectares. The coffee comes from farmers in Aricha (average farm size is half a hectare). Aricha is known for its excellent quality, as it is a high altitude area. Konga has 200 drying beds. It is owned by Shewamare and has been in operation for three years. This is their second year working with Ephtah.

The number of employees at harvest time is 90 people and the number of permanent employees during the year is at least 9 people.

Post-harvest processing: coffee grown by small farmers with Abyssinian banana trees as shade. The Abyssinian banana tree is used for Kocho which is sold to the local community. The coffee is organic, but is not certified due to the high cost of the certification. Fermented in plastic barrels for 9 days, dried for 13-18 days, stored locally and transported to Addis Ababa when it is ready.

The purchase of cherries was financed by Ephtah due to cash flow problems in the area. Ephtah donated nets worth 200,000 birr. Ephtah financed 90%. The supplier paid 10% to the supplier.