THE CUP: Black Cherry, Watermelon, Vanilla
The Kochere district is one of the Woredas (districts) in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Gedeo Zone, Kochere is bordered on the east by Gedeb, on the southwest by the Oromia Region, and on the north by Yirgachefe, all wellknown coffee-producing regions. Kochere is a diverse woreda which is made up primarily by three ethnic groups, the Gedeo, the Oromo, and the Amhara, in order of population. The coffees produced in this area are consistently some of the most beautiful coffees grown in the world thanks to the unique combination of the local environment, coffee genetics, and processing methods.
Numerous variables come together to develop the unique flavors present in this coffee. First, the coffee is grown at noticeably high altitude, around 1,700 meters above sea level. Temperatures stay cool, with average highs around 70 °F and lows around 60 °F. Additionally, the varieties, Kumie, Diga, and Wilsho make up this coffee, which are all local varieties to this area of Ethiopia. This may account for what makes this coffee stand out, as these are not common to any other areas of the world. Lastly, this coffee is processed carefully using typical dry processing methods.
To process this natural coffee, the coffee arrives to the Kocherie Beloya (or Biloya) washing station where is first sorted by hand to select the densest cherries. It is then taken to raised beds where the coffee is dried for up to 21 days. After drying, the coffee is milled and ready to be shipped off. Naturally processed Ethiopian coffees are often the coffees that stand out for the profound sweetness and fruit notes, and this one stands up to that. Ethiopian lot from the famed Yirgacheffe district within the Gedeo zone.
Natural Processing
Coffee cherries delivered to the washing station are first separated by hand to remove the less dense cherries. Then the remaining cherry is taken to Koke’s 89 raised beds to dry in the sun, which takes about 21 days. Tarps are often used to keep the coffee from drying too quickly and losing its beautiful and characteristic cup profile. Natural processed coffee dried with cherry is then milled to remove the husks and stored in the dry mill warehouse. Beans are packaged in clearly marked 60kg bags for export.
Dry Milling
Coffee is prepared for export at Tracon Trading’s coffee cleaning and storage plant on 30,000 sq meters of land in Addis Ababa. The plant is equipped with modern Pinhalense coffee processing machines and a Buhler Z+ color sorter. The machine has the capacity of processing six tons per hour. Beans pass through a final hand sort on conveyor belts. The plant’s six storage silos have a capacity of roughly 15,000 metric tons. The warehouses are clean, with ample lighting and ventilation, which are ideal for maintaining the quality of the coffee.
Natural Elev: 1,699 - 1,190masl
NOTE: Nothing is blended with this pure coffee. Taste descriptions are our Master Roaster's interpretation of the the flavor of our all natural coffees.