Wakito Madallu is at the end of the road -you pass by another coffee cooperative we buy from on the way here, Alaga Sekala. The wet mill itself is at 2000 meters ... very high. In fact on the road headed to the Wakito Madallu mill I logged a smallholder coffee farm at 2144 meters on my GPS unit. This coffee is part of a new initiative we have in Ethiopia to work direct at the coop level. The program is administered by a non-government organization that not only coordinates agronomists and managers for each of the coops they work with, but also has a business adviser assigned that helps the cooperative manage their debt, re-invest in quality improvements at the mill, and verifies distribution of income to all members. A cooperative can make all kinds of quality improvements, turn out fantastic coffee, and sink deeper in debt all the while. Cooperatives often fail to return a fair and full amount of payment to their farmer-members. Often this is from poor management, and sometimes from graft as well. With this lot we can verify that the great price we paid will result in a fair distribution of funds, a better managed coop, investment in the mill, and even better coffee next year.

The coffee is more muted in the dry fragrance than other wet-process Ethiopias, but opens up when you add hot water. Stone fruit notes (plum, apricot) are complimented by cocoa roast tones, turning to more intense bittersweet chocolate at Full City roast. The cup works well throughout the roast range. Lighter roasts have jasmine floral notes, and Earl Grey tea. Plum-apricot is apparent as well, but as the roast approaches second crack, pleasantly bittering baker's chocolate dominates. I prefer the juicy mouthfeel and more complex fruit flavors at City+ level, even though the roast looks a little uneven bean-to-bean. As it cools, the lightest city roast has a strong tangerine citrus brightness that emerges, and the finish is pleasantly dry.

Directions: Fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Walk over to the domestic terminal. Board a flight to Jimma in the West. When you get to Jimma, and you have a car, head northwest to Agaro, then up to Bedele on the way to Ghimbi. Don't go to Ghimbi though, turn at the Bedele (not a bad idea to stop for some local Bedele beer and goat barbecue). Head due west toward Metu in the Illubabor area, but don't go all the way. Turn left after about 120 km. There is no sign. Go through the old pine forest planted in the Dirg era, and just 20 minutes off the main road you are there ...Hana Bosoke cooperative! You will be at 1928 meters above sea level, although coffee comes to the mill from farms has high as 2100 meters. You will notice this is their second year of operation, and they are still learning some things. They are pumping water from the river below, and they need settling ponds to clean the sediment. But things look good, and later on the cupping table you find a very nice sample, and it turns out to be Hana Bosoke. Congratulations ...you just bought coffee from Ethiopia! Now, good luck getting it exported on time... here last November we brought a home roaster, and powered by car battery and an inverter, held an entire cupping for the coffee farmers!

Hana Bosoke has a cocoa and orange dry fragrance, with a raw honey sweetness. The wet aroma has the same peach aspect, with cinnamon spice notes and a milk chocolate roast tone. On the break there is a unique herbal note, tropical fruit, mint and lemon grass. The cup is quite different than wet-process coffees from Yirga Cheffe, Sidama or Shakiso in the south. It has a disitinct brightness, balanced between brightness and body. The flavor of baked peaches is well integrated into a cocoa roast taste, accented by a hint of Earl Grey tea (tannic tea finish, and bergamot citrus accent). The body isn't heavy but feels quite substantial on the palate. There's something slightly foresty in this coffee; not earthy, but a bit more rustic than other washed coffees. I think it's in the nature of this region and the old cultivars, not something resulting from how the coffee is processed. Lighter roasts have a lime accent note. It's unique, a slightly different take on the Jimma type coffee, and a balanced, crowd-pleaser type cup overall. It makes a beautiful SO Espresso as well, roasted to FC+ level.

Camp Coffee. I know this will be the source of a few jokes, especially since camp coffee (at least to me) means not-so-tasty coffee that is enjoyable because, well, it's hot, and your camping! Anyway, I have been to the Camp cooperative mill, and I still can't explain the name. It just is. Camp is in the Illubabor district of western Ethiopia. It is not far from the main paved road on the way to Bedele town. I measured the altitude at the Camp mill at 1897 meters, but most of the coffee comes from the higher areas in the vicinity, up to 2100 meters. This lot of Camp is part of a new initiative we have in Ethiopia to work direct at the coop level. The program is administered by a non-government organization that not only coordinates agronomists and managers for each of the coops they work with, but also has a business adviser assigned that helps the cooperative manage their debt, re-invest in quality improvements at the mill, and verifies distribution of income to all members.

Camp has a more balanced fragrance and aroma than other Ethiopias from the area. It is not outrageously floral or fruited at first, with moderate cocoa tones, almond essence, and some dusky wildflower notes. It comes to life adding hot water: a strong sweetness I could characterize as "peach preserves" dominates, with cane sugar juice. The cup has a moderate brightness when you stack it up against other wet-process Ethiopia coffees. It has the peach notes and the same latent floral aspect hinted at in the aroma, but with an overlay of chocolate roast taste and rather dense body. In fact that might be the reason I liked this coffee with a little more roast on it, Full City to Full City+. The chocolate bittersweet tang is really pleasant at this level, while lemon hints come through to vivify the cup flavors. I let one batch go a tad into 2nd crack and really appreciated the SO espresso shot from this, a bit bright, but with a long, reverberating aftertaste.

This coffee from Nano Challa Cooperative is part of a new initiative we have in Ethiopia to work direct at the coop level. The program is administered by a non-government organization that not only coordinates agronomists and managers for each of the coops they work with, but also has a business adviser assigned that helps the cooperative manage their debt, re-invest in quality improvements at the mill, and verifies distribution of income to all members. A cooperative can make all kinds of quality improvements, turn out fantastic coffee, and sink deeper in debt all the while. Cooperatives often fail to return a fair and full amount of payment to their farmer-members. Often this is from poor management, and sometimes from graft as well. With this lot we can verify that the great price we paid will result in a fair distribution of funds, a better managed coop, investment in the mill, and even better coffee next year! There will be about 10 coffees we offer this year from this system, Nano Challa being one of the earliest arrivals. This is the second lot of they year from this coop. Nano Challa is in the Gera Woreda, with farm altitudes between 1900 to 2100 meters. I was there in November we brought a home roaster, and powered by car battery and an inverter, held an entire cupping for the coffee farmers!

This coffee is not a powerhouse, but a sweet, bright, clean and refined Ethiopia cup. The dry fragrance has sweet honey and jasmine floral notes, with peach pastry fruit. The wet aroma has jammy apricot fruits, as well as an aroma I can only describe as "almond croissant," sweet and confectionary in character, but mild as well. The cup is juicy and sweet, particularly in the light roasts. City to City+ roasts have a red currant fruit, that shifts toward darker plum and black tea notes at Full City roast level. It has hawthorne flower, but seems more violet-like as the cup cools. Mouthfeel is light and juicy as well. The cup has a bracing brightness especially in the light roasts, and a very well-structured character overall. It's no fruit-bomb Ethiopia coffee, but a retrained and clean cup. Darker roast levels are nice, but seem to lose a little: Full City roast has less fruit and sweetness, with a nice Dutch cocoa roast tone. The finish has a slight dryness, and I notice a few quakers in my test roasts that might be responsible for some of this. It's not that distracting, but removing these few obvious quakers seems to give the finish more polish. The floral and fruit notes intensify as the cup cools, really distinguishing this coffee on the cupping table.

We had been using this beautiful coffee in a blend, and thought ... heck, why aren't we selling it a la carte? The issue is that we don't have a lot of information about it's origin. This is a very clean tasting pulp natural process Limu area coffee from the mysteriously-named Helen Gebrenigus exporter. Pulp natural lurks somewhere between the traditional methods of wet-process and dry-process coffees. With a pulp natural, the cherry comes in from the farms and is pulped (skin removed) immediately. Instead of fermenting off the sticky mucilage of the fruit, it is laid directly onto raised beds. It must be distributed in a thin layer and turned often, especially in the initial days of drying. This coffee was from a private farm and then traded through the ECX exchange, which is why we don't know it's exact source. I have a feeling the exporter knows, because she told us some details of processing this lot, that they shade-dry initially. But if she knows, she is not telling. In any case, we love the cup quality, and that is the most important factor.

The cup has the consistent and uniform nature of a wet-process coffee, and some of the interesting fruited notes of a dry-process. The dry fragrance has peach and meyer lemon fruit, which honey graham cracker in the lighter roast. The wet aroma is fantastic, with unique citrus and stone fruit notes, peach, apricot, and hints of mango. There is a more pungent scent in the Full City roast, and a bit of herbal lemon grass on the break. The cup has feature of both a wet- and dry-process coffee as well. It's a bit brighter than most naturals, but certainly has the fruited notes and body of that process method. Layers of fruit, already listed in the aroma, add complexity. Spice and herbal notes (coriander, and lemon grass again) are present, distinguishing this from a wet process coffee, as well as a fairly thick, opaque mouthfeel. The sweetness is like honey in the light roast, while there is a slightly drying chaff-like note in the finish. It seems to roast well at any level, shifting to a more bass-note cup at Full City+.

We were very excited when we first cupped the offer and pre-ship samples of this unique wet-process Yirga cheffe coffee. Kochere has produced some of my favorite Yirg coffees in the past, with a highly aromatic cup and intense, lively brightness. I visited there early this year and it seems that the more remote locations from the main Southern road (the 6) have many of the old, heirloom Yirga Cheffe cultivars in production. It was prepared to Grade 1 standards, and comes from the Teklu Dembel washing station. This is located near Ch'elelek'tu town in the Kochere Woreda of Yirga Cheffe. The altitude ranges from 1800 to 2000 meters, with approximately 600 small holder farmers contributing to this lot.

The aromatics are perfumed and floral, with bergamot citrus peel, honeysuckle blossom, berry and clover honey notes in the dry fragrance. With the addition of hot water, the same themes are continued, as well as fresh baked honey buns, melted butter and caramel. There is a unique accent of rue and coriander on the break. The cup is amazing, delicate, sweet, with strong retro-nasal aromatics. Flavors of jasmine, tangerine and caramel are accented by a grape-like acidity (tartaric), with vanilla, honey and floral perfumes. As it cools, new flavors emerge, with tangerine giving way to perfectly-ripe apple notes (Pink Lady came to mind!), with a touch of guava. Honeysuckle flower asserts itself in the aftertaste. We found that City to City+ roast was ideal, and too much development, approaching 2nd crack, resulted in a loss of these precious flavors and aromas.