Origin Story: Ethiopia Kossa Geshe Estate
As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia is a country that needs little introduction. Their reputation for great coffee alone is what brought us to explore these beans. Although more well known coffee farms in Central and Southern Ethiopia have built a large name for themselves, such as Yirgacheffe or Sidamo, the coffee grown in the “Wild West” of Ethiopia brings its own character to this diverse country.
“This is coffee country. Every community has a different claim to being the birthplace of coffee, and backs it up by producing some of the world’s best coffees every year.” — Crop to Cup Coffee Importers.
Although this “no man’s land” is still expected to hand you muddy terrains and the fuzzy boundaries of overlapping farms contained within protected rainforests, the high quality coffee producing climate has been encouraging road development, infrastructure, and an influx of people ready to take advantage of the region. This “Wild West” is the birthplace of our Ethiopian Kossa Geshe coffee.
The Kossa Geshe farm in the Limmu Area of Ethiopia is where our partners, Crop to Cup, obtain this coffee. This particular farm contains around 125,000 trees and is run by a farmer named Abdul Wahid. Surrounded by protected forests and located in some of the last virgin forests in the country, this farm has been expanding rapidly in the past couple years alone. Dorm rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, hand-washing stations, and even a schoolhouse classroom can now be found on site as more success from coffee sales touch this land. It’s inspiring to see this farmer invest his earnings back into his farm.
The development is quickly growing the farm’s overall capacity, comfortable working conditions, and compliance requirements — all while his coffee earns awards across the globe for superior quality. It’s here that the farmers naturally process their coffee by leaving the coffee cherry to ferment on-the-bean on raised drying beds. This subtle art of fermenting and drying requires constant vigilance, because every step, every hour, and every decision affects the bean’s final overall flavor and complexity. Abdul has done many experiments on drying his beans on raised beds, on the ground, and eventually on his new 75,000 sq. ft. drying patio. With great levels of acuity, he is aware of the science behind these techniques and does everything purposefully, knowing that his final product is the best of the best. In this circumstance, he leaves his coffee to dry inside the fruit, and because of this, it develops and retains its sweet berry notes combined with vanilla and cherry. Once these beans make it into our Moka Origins Warehouse, a signature light roast of this coffee in our roaster draws out the flavor and allows all the hard work put into growing, fermenting and the drying process to shine through.
