We taste: honeysuckle, peach, sweet tea

Wet Mill/Washing Station: Halo Beriti
Region: Gedeb, Yirgacheffe
Processing Method: Washed (Grade 1)
Elevation: 2100-2300 msl
Variety: Ethiopian Heirloom Varieties

Halo Beriti Washing Station in the Yirgacheffe ("Ir-ga-CHEF-ay") region of southern Ethiopia was established in 2014 and serves 750 smallholder producers who deliver their coffee in cherry form. This particular lot is part of a "special preparation" in which hand-sorting was done repeatedly throughout the receiving and drying process, ensuring that only perfect coffees made it into the bags.

Coffees in Ethiopia are typically grown on very small plots of land by farmers who also grow other crops. The majority of smallholders will deliver their coffee in cherry to a nearby washing station or central processing unit, where their coffee will be sorted, weighed, and paid for or given a receipt. Coffee is then processed, usually washed or natural, by the washing station and dried on raised beds. Typically farmers in this region don't have access to and therefore do not utilize fertilizers or pesticides in the production of coffee. 

When brewed, this washed Ethiopian coffee is complex with subtle notes of peach, apricot and sweet tea, along with delicate florals like honeysuckle, bergamot, and jasmine. Its subtle complexities may be washed out by the addition of cream/milk, so we love it best served black. (But you do you!)