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.

Alaga Sekala is a cooperative wet mill near Jimma, western Ethiopia. It is actually in a zone that was sold with the appellation of south Limu coffee, hence the hyphenated Limu-Jimma. The station is at 1850 meters with most of the coffee coming from the higher zones surrounding the site, from 1900-2100 meters. It is just down the road from the Wakito Madallu cooperative we also are offering this year, and the coffees have much in common. Alaga Sekala 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. Of course there is agronomy help and technical assistance, but aiding the coop in business aspects is a key difference with this program. Among the cooperatives here, Alaga Sekala has the distinction of winning a cup quality competition last year, and it is a very nice coffee this harvest too!

This coffee has a lot of peach-apricot fruit notes in the dry fragrance, as well as anise seed and almond essence. Adding hot water, the wet aromatics have even more fruit character, jammy sweet stone fruits, and panela raw sugar. The cup is fairly light in intensity, especially when it is hot. There are jasmine tea notes, and peach pie (...pie crust as well at City+ roast). As it cools the cup gets bolder, with orange peel, and even stronger jasmine notes at City roast, along with hazelnut roast notes. Body is light, but suits the mouth-refreshing character of this coffee.

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+.