About This Coffee
Located Southeastern Ethiopia, approximately 400 kilometers south of the capital, Addis Adaba, Bale zone is an excellent location for producing Natural forest-grown coffee. Most coffee in the region is grown in the richly forested Bale Mountain National Park, which stretches across more than 2,200 square kilometers of land.
The park is a hotspot for biological diversity and many of the animals and plants that live in the forest are among the rarest in the world. The flora and fauna, combined with the steep climbs and drops of the mountain range, make for breathtakingly beautiful scenery.
Cultivation
Most coffee in Bale is grows wild or semi-wild in the forests. Producers sometimes clear underbrush, build fences and tend to the coffee trees, but trees grow largely unhindered. The surrounding forest provides excellent shade cover that, along with the high altitude, promotes slower, denser cherry growth.
One result of this cultivation style is the incredible diversity of tree varieties. Even small plots can have significant genetic diversity, including varieties not found anywhere else in the world, or even in the forest.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Producers selectively handpick ripe cherry. With such spectacular growing conditions and genetic diversity, it’s no surprise farmers opt for Natural process to bring out the fruity characteristic so beloved in Ethiopian coffees. Cherry is laid in thin layers to sundry and turned regularly to promote even drying.
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.