Harvest Season
| Varietal(s) | Ethiopian Heirloom |
|---|---|
| Processing | Fully Washed |
Guji is the new star of Ethiopian coffee — which is saying something, given that Ethiopia is the heavyweight champion of specialty origins. For decades, Guji coffees were lumped under the broad “Sidamo” classification until the Oromia regional government recognized Guji as a distinct zone in 2002. Named for the Oromo people who have farmed these lands for generations, the Guji Zone sits 300 to 400 kilometers south of Addis Ababa, in a landscape of steep volcanic mountains and dense semi-forest where coffee trees grow under the shade of native acacia and enset.
Farms sit between 1,800 and 2,200 meters above sea level. At these elevations, nights dip into the low 50s even during harvest, and cherries mature slowly. That extra time on the branch allows the bean to develop denser cell structures, more complex sugars, and aromatic compounds that cannot be replicated at lower altitudes.
In Ethiopia, coffee is overwhelmingly grown by smallholder farmers on one- or two-hectare plots, families who harvest a few hundred kilos of cherry during the October-to-December season. They deliver cherries to a washing station within walking distance. A well-run washing station begins with float sorting: cherries are dumped into water tanks, and floaters — underripe, damaged, insect-bored — are skimmed off. Dense, ripe cherries sink, then run through a mechanical pulper that removes the fruit skin, leaving the bean encased in sticky mucilage. The parchment moves to tiled fermentation tanks where it sits submerged for 24 to 72 hours as microorganisms consume the mucilage layer. This is the defining step of washed coffee: controlled fermentation strips away the fruit sugars, setting the stage for the clarity washed Ethiopians are known for.
After fermentation, the parchment is washed through long concrete channels. The densest, highest-grade beans settle first, while lighter beans wash further downstream. Grade 1 comes from those first settling-point beans. The parchment is then spread on raised drying beds — mesh-topped tables elevated a meter off the ground for airflow both above and below. Workers turn the coffee by hand every hour or two. Shade netting protects against peak sun to prevent cracking. The coffee dries slowly over 10 to 14 days to 11–12% moisture, then rests before trucking to a dry mill in Addis Ababa.
Washed Ethiopian coffee from Guji is typically floral and tea-like, with citrus and stone fruit rather than the dried-fruit weight of a natural. The best lots are clean enough that every note stays separate.
When we roast this, we taste blueberry, jasmine, and bright citrus. Blueberry comes first — fresh rather than jammy, with a crystalline sweetness at the front of the palate. Meyer lemon arrives next, bright but rounded. Jasmine weaves through the middle and softens into something close to honeysuckle on the finish. The body is medium and silky.
We Roast It This Way
We roast it this way: to a Medium roast. This is a specialty-grade green coffee. We recommend targeting 400–420°F charge temperature and aiming for City+ to Full City for a balanced cup that honours the origin character. First crack typically appears around 385–395°F (varies by roaster type and drum speed). Development time: 1:00–1:45 after first crack.
Medium roast to preserve the delicate florals while developing the berry sweetness — too dark and you'll lose the blueberry entirely.
