About This Coffee
Boji is a washing station located in the Kochere woreda of the SNNPR region. It serves around 500 smallholder producers. Kochere is a coffee-growing area close to the town of Yirgacheffe, home to some of the most-loved coffees in the world.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Washed processing at the station follows the traditional Ethiopian methods. After an initial screening where cherry is floated and visually checked underripes, overripes and damaged cherry, cherry is pulped and fermented. Coffee ferments in water for 36 to 72 hours. During fermentation, water is changed 3 times.
After fermentation, parchment is sent through a grading channel that washes parchment, removes any remaining mucilage and separates parchment by density. Once clean, the highest parchment grade is soaked for an additional 8 to 12 hours.
The wet parchment is transferred to the drying field. That first day, parchment rests on the pre-drying tables where excess water can easily drain off and employees inspect wet parchment. It is easier to detect and remove defects in wet parchment. After one day on the pre-drying tables, the drying field staff transfers the wet parchment to raised beds where it will dry for up to 12 days. Staff regularly turn the parchment to ensure even drying. Once dried, the coffees rest in a cooperative warehouse.
Ethiopia Grade 1
Grades in Ethiopia depend on visual inspection for defects and on cup quality. Grade 1 is considered the highest quality coffee. Grade 1 and 2 are considered specialty coffee, grades 3-9 are classified as commercial coffee. Grade 1 is free of cup faults and taints and has zero quakers.
Coffee in Ethiopia
While Ethiopia is famous as coffee’s birthplace, today it remains a specialty coffee industry darling for its incredible variety of flavors. While full traceability has been difficult in recent history, new regulations have made direct purchasing possible. We’re partnering directly with farmers to help them produce top quality specialty lots that are now completely traceable, adding value for farmers and roasters, alike.
The exceptional quality of Ethiopian coffee is due to a combination of factors. The genetic diversity of coffee varieties means that we find a diversity of flavor, even between (or within) farms with similar growing conditions and processing. In addition to varieties, processing methods also contribute to end quality. The final key ingredients for excellent coffee in Ethiopia are the producing traditions that have created the genetic diversity, processing infrastructure and great coffee we enjoy today.
Most producers in Ethiopia are smallholders, and the majority continue to cultivate coffee using traditional methods. As a result, most coffee is grown with no chemical fertilizer or pesticide use. Coffee is almost entirely cultivated, harvested and dried using manual systems.