Ethiopia: Mensur Abahika, Washed

When hot, the cup evokes the rich sweetness of dark banana bread, gradually revealing subtle notes of blueberry and oolong tea as it cools. The cake-like sweetness lingers throughout, evolving into a gingerbread finish with a delicate, warming spice that carries gently into the aftertaste.

This is our fifth year buying from Mensur Abahika and we’re thrilled to have his coffee back again this season. During the 2019/2020 harvest, Mensur became the first single-producer lot that our importing partner Osito purchased in Ethiopia following legal reforms which allowed movement away from the traditional Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) model, and he is a central figure in the Tokuma Farmer Group. Their collective in western Ethiopia collaborates to market their coffees and share knowledge to improve quality, yielding improvements in cup quality, efficiency in getting coffees to export, and consistency year on year. Mensur’s contributions are vital to the group’s success and to Osito’s work with single producers in the region. 

His small 18 hectare farm is located in the Kota kebele, within the Goma district of the Jimma Zone. Sat at a whopping 1950-2000 metres above sea level, the high altitude and cool temperatures encourage slow maturation of the coffee cherries for a high-quality cup profile.  Jimma is also home to the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre (JARC), which has developed many of Ethiopia’s most widely planted cultivars. This gives the region a unique role in Ethiopia’s coffee genetics, with many farms growing selected JARC varieties like 74110 (as we have here), prized for their disease resistance and cup quality.

Historically Jimma was long associated with lower-quality Natural coffees but the trend has shifted in recent years and the area is now recognised for its distinctive flavour profile within Ethiopian coffees and a growing specialty focus. In 2009, Technoserve partnered with local farmer’s co-ops to introduce Washed processing and raise standards. In the years since, Jimma is now seen as one of Ethiopias premier coffee regions alongside Yirgacheffe and Sidamo. Washed coffees require a lot more infrastructure and risk to process, meaning that previously these were exclusively the domain of larger co-ops and private washing stations, with small and mid-sized farms focussing on Naturals. That changed in the 2022/23 harvest, when several Tokuma Group producers, Mensur included, turned their hand to Washed processing for some of their crop. This Washed JARC 74110 lot grown by Mensur brilliantly showcases the unique flavour profile of Jimma coffee when produced to a world-class standard.

• Country: Ethiopia
• Region: Oromia
• Zone: Jimma
  
• Woreda: Gomma
• Collective: Tokuma Farmer Group
• Varietals: JARC 74110 & 74112
• Processing: Washed
• Producer: Mensur Abahika
• Altitude: 2,000 m.a.s.l.

Tasting notes: Banana bread, Oolong tea, gingerbread.

Cup of Excellence Cupping Scores

• Clean cup: (1–8): 6
• Sweetness: (1–8): 6.5
• Acidity: (1–8): 6
• Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6
• Flavour: (1–8): 6.5
• Aftertaste: (1–8): 6.5
• Balance: (1–8): 6.5
• Overall: (1–8): 7
• Correction:(+36): +36
• Total (max. 100): 87

Medium: through first and look for the middle of the gap before you drop this.