Ethiopia | Ilkito

Origin

• 🇪🇹 Ethiopia· Yirgacheffe

Tasting notes

Character

• Bright
  30
• Clean
  20
• Funky
  20

Nectarine | Earl Grey | Brown Sugar Region | Yirgacheffe, Gedeo Zone Altitude | 2000-2100 MASL Process | WashedWashed processThe fruit is removed from the seed before drying, usually with fermentation and a water rinse. Tends to give clean, transparent cups where origin character shows clearly. VarietyVariety (cultivar)The botanical subtype of the coffee plant — Gesha, Bourbon, SL28 — analogous to grape varieties in wine. A major driver of cup character alongside origin and process. | Kumie, Diga, Wilsho It's always a joy to welcome an old favourite, the washed Yirgacheffe, back on the menu after an absence. This year's offering is from the Ilkito washing stationWashing stationA central mill where many smallholder farmers deliver cherry for processing. In Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda the station name (e.g. Idido) often identifies the coffee. and it has all that tea-like delicacy and soft florals we associate with this celebrated region. The Ilkito station, built in 2016, is located in the highlands of Yirgacheffe and this characteristically dense and clean coffee is collected from a 2 hectare area near the station. Coffee is grown in the shade of the trees Cordia Africana, Acacia and Ensete Ventricosum - this helps the coffee mature more slowly and thus pack in more flavour but it is increasingly highlighted for its positive biodiversity impact on the industry. SmallholdersSmallholderA farmer growing coffee on a small family plot — often under two hectares. Most of the world's coffee is grown this way, typically pooled at cooperatives or washing stations. such as Ilkito's contributors can rarely find a way to fulfil the often costly requirements of environmental certification standards but nonetheless form a telling contrast with the vast deforesting estates of many other coffee origins, particularly those found in South America. 1200 smallholder farmers contribute to this coffee and their coffee is fermented for 36-48 hours as part of the washed process. Kumie, Diga, Wilsho are local names for some of Ethiopia's famously sundry collection of wild varieties, a nod to a country whose naturalNatural processThe whole cherry is dried with the fruit still on the seed. Gives heavier body and big fruit flavors — think berries and wine — sometimes with a fermenty edge. varietal development has parented all the world's great cultivated coffees. Sit back, relax and enjoy all the flavour.