Nigusie Lemma is a coffee producer group in the Mitto Gunim area of Limmu Kossa woreda (district) northwest of Jimma, and it is the first lot we secured through the Ethiopia Direct Specialty Trade (DST) Auction. DST is a way for smaller lots of high quality to bypass the Coffee Exchange (ECX) where all lots are made anonymous. With the DST we know where the coffee came from and who grew it. Given the importance of direct trade between coffee buyer and the grower, and the general trend of quality-conscious roasters to want a first-person relationship with their coffee sources, the ECX seems like a step backward, toward coffee as mass commodity. But in providing the DST bypass, as well as (hopefully) new mechanisms in the coming year for small buyers to deal directly with growers, coops and private groups, they have shown sensitivity to the needs of businesses like ours. It was important for us to participate, and show our support for the DST. And we were happy to find a few lots of quality. The Nigusie Lemma was our absolute favorite natural (dry-process) coffee, and I am so happy that after untold shipping delays it arrived and cups fantastic! The preparation is outstanding, the cup ... well, look at the numbers.

Aromatically, Nigusie Lemma has it "all going on", as the kids say, or used to say. The dry fragrance is exploding with fruit ...fill-the-room kind of fruit aromatics. Peach and plum are the dominant fruit notes, with mango as well. It's flamboyantly sweet, a heady, slightly winey and somewhat rustic sweetness, raw brown sugar, and even a suggestion of beef broth. The break is very sweet, fruited with plum and dry berry, as well as toasted coconut and cocoa powder roast tones. The cup is peaches, right off the bat, canned peaches in syrup. After a small temperature drop, other fruits emerge. Again, mango along with dried apricot. In a slightly darker roast I had berry, but more like a blueberry toaster waffle, well done. The mouthfeel is thin on the initial slurp, but as it passes off the palate it thickens, with a waxy slickness, an almond oil quality. The finish has Brazil nut, and the fruits turn toward a tropical fruit salad mix; pineapple, peach, guava, lychee, banana.

This is a wet-process lot from Shakiso, in the Guji district of south eastern Ethiopia. Moredocofe Sole Enterprises is unique coffee producer; a private farm and coffee mill in a land of few large private farms, but also a "private cooperative" that grouped together and organized surrounding farms to help market their coffee. It is the work of Haile Gebre, his retirement project after he left the government ministry and wanted to return to the coffee area where he grew up. I tried to visit the area late last year but there are also mining concerns in the Shakiso area were having labor disputes. Mr. Gebre told us it was better to simply avoid the place for a while, so we met in Yirg Alem in Sidama to talk coffee at the famous Aregash Lodge. I find the Moredocofe washed coffees to be quite different from other wet-process Ethiopias, Sidamo or Yirga Cheffe. It is not a bright citric cup, although certainly it has a nice sparkle of acidity in the cup. And it has more body than other wet-process coffees. The dry fragrance has a beautiful lemon wafer cookie scent, with vibrant light caramel sweetness. Adding the hot water, graham cracker sweetness and a mild floral character dominates, honeysuckle and a whiff of pink jasmine flower too. The cup has a clean, clear sweetness, like a light brown sugar taste, with mild sweet citrus marmalade accent. There is some spice tea flavor as well, cinnamon-like. As it cools a beautiful mandarin orange flavor comes forward, and the mouthfeel goes from being light and unobtrusive, to something more like fruit syrup. It's a charming coffee, more restrained perhaps than other Ethiopia lots, but it certainly grows on you with each sip. I love this coffee as an aromatic and brightness component of espresso, or as SO espresso by itself.

With the new ECX (Ethiopia Coffee Exchange) rules imposed now on Ethiopia coffee exports, all lots (with an exception for FTO cooperative coffees) are made anonymous when they enter the Government warehouse. Which means when we find a great coffee via importers and not direct sourcing (which is now nearly impossible in Ethiopia), we do not know exactly which cooperative or mill this lot is from. We know it is a Yirga Cheffe, a Grade 2 (which means very good preparation but can be ambiguous - see my notes on the grading system), and nobody needs to tell us it is a wet-process coffee. While making lots anonymous has been a setback for us, it doesn't mean great lots suddenly disappeared. The great coffees are still there, we just know less about them. We are sure enough this is a Kochere area lot, and it is an awesome cup.

This lot came in as a standard sample offer but jumped out on the cupping table immediately. The dry grounds have a very sweet floral-laced quality, and a unique gingerbread dough spicy-sweet scent. The wet aroma also has a unique blend of cinnamon and powdered ginger, along with caramelized sugar and a jasmine tea accent. I get some butterscotch noted from the slightly darker roast level (FC-FC+) but much of the floral scent is gone ... I really like this coffee at the lighter end of the roast range. The cup has cane sugar sweetness, and the fruit note of the coffee cherry, clean and ripe. When it has cooled completely the cup is still so sweet and dynamic, with honey and floral flavors. The body is on the light side, with a nice syrupy mouthfeel. It makes a great iced coffee too, provided you don't water it down when icing it.