Ethiopian Coffee Beans

Ethiopia is where arabica coffee comes from. Wild coffee plants still grow in the forests of the southwest, in regions like Kaffa and Bench Sheko, and the genetic diversity of Ethiopian coffee is unlike anything found in the cultivated plantations of Latin America or Asia. Most Ethiopian coffee is grown by smallholder farmers on plots of less than two hectares, often alongside food crops under natural forest shade, and the heirloom varieties they tend have never been formally classified. This depth of genetic diversity is one of the reasons Ethiopian coffee tastes like nothing else: the range of flavour compounds present in these ancient genotypes produces cups with a complexity that selected, bred cultivars rarely match.

The most recognised growing regions are Yirgacheffe, in the Gedeo zone, known for its bright, clean washed coffees with jasmine, bergamot, and citrus character; Guji and Sidama, producing both natural and washed lots with stone fruit, red berry, and floral aromatics; and the forests of Kaffa and Limu in the southwest, where coffees tend toward a deeper, more earthy complexity. Natural processing in Ethiopia produces some of the most fruit-forward and intensely aromatic coffees in the world, with blueberry, red wine, and dried fruit notes that can be startling in their intensity. Washed Ethiopian coffees at altitude show a different side of the same genetics: precise, tea-like, and florally complex in a way that washed coffees from other origins rarely achieve.

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