This coffee washing station is owned, operated and managed by Kedir Jabril. If you read about our Hana Asrat coffee from this season, then you’ll recognize the last name Jabril, as that station is owned and operated by Feku Jabril. Well, as it turns out, Kedir is the brother of Feku! It seems that amazing quality coffee runs in family! Their other brother Abdi, also runs a washing station.   

Kedir’s washing station is really high in elevation. I mean really high. I’ve taken a lot of altitude measurements on my trips to Ethiopia, and some of the farms delivering to Kedir are the highest altitudes that grow coffee in the whole country. Of course, higher altitude doesn’t always mean better coffee, as it can be too high. But the plants around the area look healthy and produce good yields. The high altitude does help increase bean density and, in the case of this coffee, it produces incredible complexity.  

Kedir’s level of consistency is also really impressive, and I can trust that he’s going to deliver top quality each season. One of the key reasons for that quality is that Kedir (like his brothers) manages this washing station himself, as opposed to living further away and delegating the task to someone else.

Kedir and the exporter of this coffee, Snap, have a very close relationship. Their partnership helps ensure quality through the milling and exporting process, which is imperative to the quality being intact once the coffee arrives in Calgary.

With a background as a computer trading company, Snap is actually quite new to coffee. It’s pretty impressive to see that in a few short years, they’ve ascended to contend for a top spot amongst the quality specialty exporters inEthiopia. I believe that the explanation for this rapid development lies in the union of excellent capitalization and the expertise of a few passionate coffee people. Credit belongs to entrepreneur Negusse Debela for his willingness to invest in washing stations and a dry mill, right off the cuff, with the belief that “if you build it, they will come.” On the coffee quality side, much credit belongs to Abenezer Asfaw, the supply chain manager for Snap. Abenezer is only a young man, but that’s his advantage.He’s full of passionate zeal and boundless energy. He has a keen understanding of quality and the factors affecting it. Undoubtedly, he’ll be leaving a major mark on the Ethiopian Speciality Coffee sector in the years to come.

This green was frozen immediately upon arrival.

-Phil