About This Coffee
Eshetu Mergia is originally from the Bulga, Amhara region and moved to Nensebo in the 1950s during a wave of migration in search of more productive farmland. Coffee isn’t cultivated in Bulga but upon arriving in Nensebo, Eshetu took to coffee farming like he’d been doing it all his life.
Today, his 4-hectare farm grows coffee intercropped with fruit trees and other crops. Eshetu has two sons who are also coffee farmers, Endale and Tesfaye.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Eshetu selectively handpicks ripe, red cherry and processes it on his farm. Once picked, he visually hand sorts cherry and lays it on raised beds to dry. He rakes cherry frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 16 days for cherry to dry.
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.