Emperor Haile Selassie did not harvest this coffee or own the mill, but he is certainly inspiration for the name of this coffee facility located in the Dara area of Sidamo (and not far from where our Korate coffee originated last year). The process for this DP special selection involves harvesting ripe cherry, promptly screen-drying on raised beds, and extra steps in sorting the coffee after it is hulled. This differs from other dry-process Ethiopia coffees, which are often picked at the tail-ends of the crop, indiscriminately picked, and consolidated later (mixing good coffee with bad). The result is that this coffee has less distraction in terms of earthy, hidey or musty flavors, common in average DP Sidamo coffees. To the contrary, it's a wonderful cup with intense fruit, dried strawberry in the light roasts, and spice in the darker roasts. The fragrance from the ground coffee has a richly layered fruit quality, with tamarind, guava, peach, as well as a creamy milk chocolate scent. There is a yerba matte note when pouring the hot water; in the aroma it fades into mango, cooked peach, nutmeg and other warming spices. On the break there is a very intense cherry scent! The coffee has interesting fruit on so many levels, it is hard to list. And with each new roast and each new brew, it shows even more. Many of these cup like dried fruits, like fruit strips, or fruit roll-ups. There is stone fruit, peach and apricot, as well as light plum notes. Mango sweetness comes through, as well as intensely aromatic dried strawberries. The sweetness is mainly fructose, a soft sweet quality, but also somewhat caramelly, with vanilla accents. There is a creamy, buttery quality as well, especially as the cup cools. Slightly darker roasts show anise spice, a bit of caraway seed, fresh ginger, sarsaparilla bark, and cardamom. It's a very sweet cup, in particular the lighter roast levels. It needs a few days rest to develop body, and very fresh roasts can have a tight dryness in the finish. And yet the aromatics are explosive with a short overnight rest on this coffee. Now this is a bit odd, but we made incredible, I mean ... jaw-dropping incredible ...espresso from this coffee, straight, but it was from some relatively light roasts, City+, with 6 days rest. I didn't think a DP Ethiopia could produce such an amazing shot with such a light roast! If you like wildly bright espresso with an hour of aftertaste, this might be for you; lighter roast, longer rest. It's the nature of DP coffees to have variation in surface color, as well as from cup to cup (or shot to shot). But this coffees has relatively few quakers and shows that more care was put into selection and harvest here.



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Yirga Cheffe coffees are a reknowned wet-processed type with effervescent brightness in the cup. This past season, buying Yirga Cheffe coffees from specific mills has been difficult, as the new Ethiopia Coffee Exchange rules took effect and the traditional auction was abandoned. The new rules mean that the coffee suppliers will be paid quickly by the exporters, and a new level of transparency in pricing within the country. But it has also meant that, for the time being, we don't know the exact mill or farmer group where outstanding lots like this originate. Nonetheless, it is not like great Ethiopia lots have disappeared, and this is an example. In fact, this is an Fair Trade and Organic certified lot, and since it came from a cooperative Union, Oromia, this is exempt from passing through the new coffee exchange. In the past few years, we have not seen the best lots from Oromia Union, but perhaps the new rules have tipped the scale to their advantage. This coffee simply amazed me with it's sweetness when we first roasted and ground the sample! The dry fragrance has a full, rounded sweetness, with brown sugar and raisiny fruit scents. The wet aroma is intensely sweet as well, caramelly and fruited; it reminds me of a baked apple with cinnamon and sugar on it. The cup has dark fruit notes, sugar plum, raisin, and a bit of Mission black fig. It is not one of those thin, bright, citrusy Yirgs, but has a syrupy body and surprising depth in the flavors, even in the lighter roast levels. The "rounded" complete character hinted at in the dry fragrance is realized in the cup. It's the type of cup that results from coffee cherry being picked when they are deep crimson red and the sugars in the fruit are at their maximum. It certainly has an acidic snap to the cup, but nothing like screaming bright Yirgs (which I love, but I realize they are not for everyone). In the finish, there is a spicy sweetness, maple syrup in nature, with cinnamon, and slight traces of clove and allspice. All these qualities are best realized at a City+ roast.



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This is a coffee from a remote area of the Sidamo district, quite far from where most Sidamo coffees originate. In fact, it is mostly known for the large gold mine in the area, and sadly the local tensions between farmers and mine workers becomes open conflict. The area of Shakiso is on the Guji zone, and when I was in Ethiopia in December, the local conflict made travel there unsafe. Nonetheless, we met the farmer who produces this coffee, Haile Gebre, in Yirg Alem, and we were able get a sample to cup some of this new crop Maduro lot, in anticipation of the following harvest. Maduro? This is a dry-process coffee where extra care has been directed toward harvesting only crimson-purple coffee cherries, a deeper red than the picking point for most coffee fruit. Maduro means mature in Spanish, and I am not sure how that name was adopted for and Ethiopia coffee, but that is the one Seņor Gebre chose. Everything about the sensoral analysis of this coffee becomes an object lesson about the effect of coffee cherry ripeness. The dry fragrance offers an explosive, room-filling scent of plum, melon and spice. The wet aromatic has hibiscus-rose potpourri, spiced apple cider, cinnamon bark, clove, and Muscavado sugar. There is a whiff of raw cocoa nibs on the break. There is a range of cup flavors depending on roast level, but all follow the same general path, a route described by ripe fruits, a "hushed" acidity (deep-toned acidity as a direct result of mature coffee cherry), winey character, heavy body. City+ to Full City was where the flavors converged. At this roast, the cup is so remarkably sweet, it might even become cloying for some; it is a dessert coffee for sure. Flame grape, plum (with a little plum skins), melon-like ripeness, Syrah; these are some good descriptors for initial cup flavors ... but the list could be much more extensive. Spiced chocolate comes in the finish, like Ibarra Mexican hot chocolate, with clove, nutmeg and cinnamon stick accents, raw sugar panela, butterscotch rum candy. The body seems juicy and fatty as well, coating the mouth and leading to a long aftertaste. If we call your standard dry-process coffees "natural", this might be referred to as "neo-natural". It's a 90+ coffee easily for anyone who loves this flavor profile, but perhaps taboo to those who are strict washed coffee enthusiasts. There are quakers in this coffee that should be culled out after roasting.



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Yirga Cheffe coffees are a renowned wet-processed type with effervescent brightness in the cup. This past season, buying Yirga Cheffe coffees from specific mills has been difficult, as the new Ethiopia Coffee Exchange rules took effect and the traditional auction was abandoned. The new rules mean that the coffee suppliers will be paid quickly by the exporters; and a new level of transparency in pricing within the country. But it has also meant that, for the time being, we don't know the exact mill or farmer group where outstanding lots like this originate. Nonetheless, it is not like great Ethiopia lots have disappeared. And in fact we were able to buy coffees direct from the Unions (the name for a farmer's cooperative) that are traceable to the source. This is from Koke coffee mill (pronounced Ko-Kay), a part of the Yirga Cheffe Coffee Union. It was a late season lot, and comes from a place I have visited multiple times, including early in this harvest. This coffee has amazing sweetness and brightness. It's a coffee where I feel the flavor profile is heavily influenced buy the cherry selection in harvesting: this is what coffee tastes like when only crimson-red coffee cherries are picked. I kept my sample roasts lighter, within the City to City+ range, as it always seems a crime to eclipse the wonderful brightness of a great Yirga Cheffe with an overlay of darker roast flavor. The dry fragrance is highly floral, with both rose petal and lemon blossom scents, and ripe cherry fruit notes, It has a candy-like sweetness that in underscored in the wet aromatics as well. An aroma of lavender, stone fruits and mandarin orange emerge and an amaretto hint. The cup has sweet fruited notes, floral elements, and a silky mouthfeel. Peach nectar, apricot preserves, sweet mandarin orange, almond, passion fruit juice; these are some of the delicate fruited notes that come from the lighter roast of this coffee. Jasmine tea, rose hips and hibiscus notes come forward as the cup cools. City+ roast has a more silky body, and perhaps a slightly more refined finish, but also more restrained fruit notes. I recommend a very light roast here, although the roast color will not be attractive and there will be a wrinkly surface texture to the bean, I think it gives the best cup. And holy smokes, I made some amazing SO espresso from this coffee.



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