Ethiopia | Yirgacheffe

Ethiopia is a northern African country bordering Somalia to the east, and Eritrea to the north. It has a vast array of landscapes and climates. Ethiopia is not only the largest coffee producer in Africa, it also has the largest domestic consumption on the continent too. This well-developed domestic consumption of coffee has been driven by the long history with coffee the country has: home to the famous “Kaldi”, the goat herder who supposedly first discovered coffee’s ‘caffeinated’ qualities. Many coffee species are indigenous to Ethiopia, with Heirloom now the most common.

Coffee is produced in a number of regional zones to the west and south of the capital Addis Ababa, most famously Sidamo and Yirgacheffe. Ethiopia has an abundance of varied flavour profiles – depending on the process and region the coffee is produced – from strawberry fruit to mango, passion fruit and pineapple.

This coffee is grown by family farmers in Yirgacheffe on small plots of land across the lush Ethiopian countryside; these wetland plots have the perfect conditions for producing speciality coffee. Consequently, Yirgacheffe coffee has a premium reputation and is characterised by a distinct flavour profile- intense and clean taste, and complex floral and citrusy notes- which is hard to find outside of the area.

This coffee’s qualities are optimised with a light roast and brewed using Pourover or Aeropress methods.