Ethiopian Yirgacheffee Kochere sourced from Bespoke/Sevenoaks Trading who source from Haile Selassie Ambaye. We visited them in 2016.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia is widely believed to be where the coffee species arabica was originally found. Genetically it has been traced to Western Ethiopia and Southern Sudan.
From trade with the Arab nations, pure Arabica based coffees became a valuable crop. As a result, the rest of Ethiopia started growing coffee and has been doing so since the mid 1500’s.
One of the great things about Ethiopian coffees is the complete mix of varieties or should we say cultivars (a cultivar is a variety that is cultivated, so all coffee that is sold as such a cultivar). An estimated of between six thousand and ten thousand cultivars exist naturally in these highlands, and is commonly grouped under the name heirloom. Cross-pollination of genetics is totally amazing. So much so that there?are more cultivars of arabica in heirloom coffee in Ethiopia than there are in the rest of the world.
Yirgacheffee, the famous region
Of all the famous coffee growing regions in Ethiopia; Yirga Cheffe (or Yirgacheffee or Yirga Ch’ef) is probably best known.
Surrounding the town of Yirgacheffee, coffees became well known for their quality, bright floral or tea-like aromatics with distinctive lemon.Consequently even though the Yirga Cheffe growing region is part of the Sidama region, it became a sub-region and is the most sort after coffee in Ethiopia.
About Ethiopian Yirgacheffee Kochere
Quaffee has always been eager to source exemplary coffee from Yirgacheffee, Ethiopia. Specifically as it was one of the first coffees we came across that was quite special. Consequently we are keen to always offer a good representative from the region. Of specific interest was a traceable coffee from the region. Haile Selassie Ambaye run their own washing stations. So they handle the coffee from buying from the farmer through to processing and final milling. An arrangement with ECX allows transparency in the process. So each Q1 coffee from a washing station can be sold under that micro-region’s name. Rather a-typical for Ethiopia where normally all coffee from the thousands of washing stations are normally bulk lotted and then just sold as Yirgacheffee.
Notably the Kochere micro region has long been known as one of the finest origins for fully washed southern Ethiopian coffee. A combination of very high altitude an iron rich, acidic soil means coffee is grown in ideal terroir to produce the bright, floral Yirgacheffe profile.
Video of Mill
We visited the Haile Selassie Ambaye mill (you can see a video of it below:).
Ethiopian Yirgacheffee Kochere
The coffee has lively, intense citrus with a crisp mouth-feel and floral and white grape flavours.
Our brews:
| Brew Method | Ratio | Brew Method | Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espresso | 1:2.7 | AeroPress | 15g:200g | |
| Plunger | 48g:800g | Pour over/filter | 18g:300g |
Transparency Information
| Producer / Organisation | Haile Selassie Ambaye |
|---|---|
| FOB price | $14.50 / kg |
| Cupping score | 85.5 |
| Lot size bought | 12 x 60kg bags, yearly |
| Relationship | We have visited the washing station, the warehouse and the mill where this coffee comes from. When we were there the farmers confirmed that they were being paid at least twice the market rate for their cherries. We have sourced this coffee via three different agents over the four seasons we have offered it. |
Llewellyn Roos (verified owner) –
Would quaff again
Warren Machanik –
It is indeed very Quaffable 🙂
Matt (verified owner) –
Revisited this after it had been in the freezer for 2 months – blew me away all over again:)
Warren Machanik –
That is great feedback. How did you store it? We have had great results if we freeze too.