Ethiopia Guji Uraga Anaerobic (Slow Dry)

Pear candy, lemonade, marzipan, creamy body
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Bag Weight 60 KG BAG
Harvest Season 2022/23
Status Spot
Lot Number P8002021-2
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About This Coffee

This grade 1 microlot is from Uraga drying station in Guji zone. This lot is sourced from smallholder farmers cultivating Welisho, a variety of Ethiopian heirloom. This lot employs a special anaerobic  'slow dry' process to further develop the complexity in the cup. Rigorously selected ripe cherries are fermented for 10 days in oxygen deprived, sealed bags with temperature controls. The fermented cherries are then dried slowly on raised beds under shade for around 18 days. 

Origin Ethiopia
Subregion Uraga, Guji zone
Harvest Season 2022/23
Producer Type Small Holder Farmers
Processing Natural/Dry Processed
Growing Altitude 1900m
Plant Species Arabica
Variety Ethiopia Heirloom Varieties
Coffee Grade ETH CA NAT GUJ G1
Screen Size 14 Up
Bag Weight 60 KG BAG
Bag Types Grain Pro / Ecotact

The Region

Uraga washing station is located in Guji zone in the Sidamo region and processes cherries from local smallholder farmers cultivating between 1,945 and 1,970masl. The station includes 10 standardised fermentation tanks and 215 drying beds. Coffee trees are typically shaded by Cordia and Acacia and the predominant varietals are known locally as Kumie, Diga & Wilsho. 

Over a number of years this region has developed a distinguished reputation for fine coffees, producing some of the most sought-after microlots in world. The combination of high altitude (up to 2,200m in some areas), fertile soil, consistent and plentiful rains, and an abundance of local knowledge are all contributing factors
to the high status of these coffees. The indigenous ‘heirloom’ varietals - which grow wild in Ethiopia - are responsible for the unique flavour notes which make for an unusual but refined cup. When processed naturally through sun-drying these present as juicy and jammy stone-fruit flavours, floral notes and chocolate with a creamy body. 

History of Coffee in Ethiopia

Coffee is ancient in Ethiopia, but coffee farming is not. By the end of the 9th Century coffee was actively being cultivated in Ethiopia as food, but probably not as a beverage. It was the Arab world that developed brewing. Even as coffee became an export for Ethiopia in the late 1800’s, Ethiopian coffee was the result of gathering rather than agricultural practices. A hundred years ago, plantations, mostly in Harar, were still the exception, while “Kaffa” coffee from the southwest was still harvested wild. In 1935, William Ukers wrote: “Wild coffee is also known as Kaffa coffee, from one of the districts where it grows most abundantly in a state of nature. The trees grow in such profusion that the possible supply, at a minimum of labor in gathering, is practically unlimited. It is said that in south-western Abyssinia there are immense forests of it that have never been encroached upon except at the outskirts.” 

  • Subregion Uraga, Guji zone
  • Producer Type Small Holder Farmers
  • Processing Natural/Dry Processed
  • Bag Types Grain Pro / Ecotact
  • Plant Species Arabica
  • Variety Ethiopia Heirloom Varieties
  • Min Growing Altitude 1900m
  • Screen Size 14 Up
  • On Sale No
  • Top Lot No
  • Price Per Kg £10.95
  • Status Spot
  • Coffee Grade ETH CA NAT GUJ G1
  • CTRM Contract Number P8002021-2
  • Origin Ethiopia
  • Warehouse Vollers Group Uk