Ethiopia Coffee
Ethiopian Coffee Guide
Coffee originated in Ethiopia, which also produces some of the world’s most unique flavors. Ethiopian coffee is classified by area, altitude, and cupping score, yet there are between 6 and 10,000 different varieties.
This highlights will give you insight about the history, flavors, places, and preparation techniques of Ethiopian coffee. Get ready to journey back in time to the inception of that delectable, dark beverage that we all enjoy!
The narrative of how coffee was discovered in Ethiopia is a fascinating fusion of fact and fiction. The line between mythology and history is unclear, but the majority of specialists agree that Ethiopia is the only country in the world where coffee is grown naturally.
A goat herder by the name of Kaldi allegedly discovered that his goats were consuming cherries that gave them boundless vitality. He took the choice to give some of the cherries to some nearby monks in the hopes that they might be able to explain to him why they made his goats so lively.
The monks burned the cherries after seeing them because they thought they might have evil power in them. However, when they started to burn, the aroma they released was so alluring that the monks made the decision to take them out of the fire, grind them up, and put them in a vessel of water. The art of drinking coffee was created when the monks later drank the first batch.
The Main Coffee-Producing Regions
Sidamo
Sidamo (or Sidama – the latter refers to the Sidama people, while the former is what used to be known as Sidamo province) covers a large area spreading through the fertile highlands south of Lake Awasa in the Rift Valley. It is made up of over 20 different administrative areas, or ‘woredas’, with varying microclimates and altitudes; accordingly, there is a big variety of both grades and cup profiles that end up labelled as Sidamo.
The Sidamo region (along with Harrar and Yirgacheffe) is one of three trademarked coffee regions in Ethiopia and is well known for having perfect climate conditions for coffee thanks to altitudes of between a 1,500 to 2,200 metres above sea level, ample rainfall, optimum temperature, and fertile soil.
Around 60% of the region’s coffees are washed, though Sidamo also produces some excellent sun-dried coffees. There are upwards of 50 cooperatives in operation here, as well as many private buying stations – with over 200 washing stations around the various woredas.
Many thousands of bags marked ‘Sidamo’ are sold every year but there may be significant differences in cup quality. Mercanta assesses many samples of Sidamo before we make any purchases. We are looking for a coffee which possesses a vibrant crisp acidity, with refined sweetness, floral and citrus notes, and an elegant aftertaste.
Yirgacheffe
Yirgacheffe is part of the Sidamo region in southern Ethiopia, but its sometimes exquisite, washed coffees are so well-known that is has been sub-divided into its own micro-region, which has been trademarked by the Ethiopian government. This steep, green area is both fertile and high – much of the coffee grows at 2,000 metres and above.
At first glance Yirgacheffe’s hills look thickly forested, but in fact it is a heavily populated region, and the hills are dotted with many dwellings and villages’ growing ‘Garden Coffee’. There are approximately 26 cooperatives in the region, representing some 43,794 farmers and around 62,004 hectares of garden coffee. The production is predominantly washed, although a smaller amount of sundried coffees also come out of Yirgacheffe.