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A few things make this coffee special. First, the fundamentals: the coffee hails from Uraga, the powerhouse of West Guji. The coffee here is special. Credit belongs to the combination of exceptionally high altitude, a fortunate microclimate, great coffee varieties, and, of course, the careful preparation of Alemayehu Sali, the owner of the Siko mill.
Now, to the not-so-obvious reason this coffee is special, and to explain part of the title: “Screen 14”. This refers to a specific size of raw coffee. Think of a plate with holes in it, at one particular hole size, to only allow beans of that size to pass through. Why does that matter? Well, it almost certainly separates the coffee by variety, focusing on the smaller Kurume. One of the advantages of working directly with my amazing friend Abenezer from Origin Land is that you can request such things as the time of milling. In our view, it elevates this coffee by a point, focusing the flavors and amping up the sweetness.
Uraga is pretty much a straight shot east of Gedeb, so I’m able to pair visits to both of my favorite regions on the same trip! The area is on my hit-list every time I make it into the countryside of Ethiopia (Pre-Covid, I traveled to Ethiopia yearly, but sometimes I couldn’t go into the countryside for safety reasons).
I was delighted to return to Ethiopia in January 2023 after three years away. It was perhaps my most memorable trip, as I had missed all of my friends and colleagues. I was also greatly concerned about their well-being.
Ethiopia faced Covid, like everyone else, but on top of that, there was a civil war in the north of the country. It was truly awe-inspiring to see how everyone I ran into in Ethiopia had handled both, adapting to these challenges and focusing on progressing quality and building their businesses. The reality is that volatility is the baseline of normal in Ethiopia, and perhaps this equips them better than the rest of us to handle it!
This green coffee was frozen immediately upon arrival.
- Phil
