Ethiopia Melka

Origin

• 🇪🇹 Ethiopia· Yirgacheffe

Tasting notes

Character

• Clean
  50
• Bright
  40

Producer: Melka Kumie Origin: Harfusa, Yirgacheffe Varietal: HeirloomHeirloom (Ethiopia)A catch-all label for Ethiopia's thousands of indigenous, largely uncatalogued coffee varieties — used when a lot's exact genetics are unknown. Altitude: 1890 metres above sea level 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. Flavours: Apricot, floral, orange Harvest: Nov- Dec Importer: Covoya About This Coffee This grade 1 washed single-farmer microlotMicrolotA small, separately processed and traded parcel of coffee — often a single day's picking from one plot — kept apart because it's exceptional. was produced by Melka Kumie, a smallholderSmallholderA 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. farmer from Harfusa, Yirgacheffe. Melka's farm sits at 1,890masl and she cultivates the sub-varieties of Kurume, Dega and Welisho, all of which are classified as traditional Ethiopian heirloom varieties. Where is it from? Ethiopia is regarded as the birthplace of coffee. The legend of Kaldi, the goat herder that allegedly discovered the effects of the bright red cherries growing wild in the Ethiopian forest, is pervasive. The legend likely bears some resemblance to the truth despite the dramatisation added in the telling of the tale. The fact that Coffee is native to Ethiopia is indisputable; this becomes clear when one walks into the famous forest coffee plantations. Growing happily amongst the native forest are the healthiest and happiest coffee trees you’ll see anywhere in the world. Organic production is widespread in Ethiopia, where in many countries this is completely unviable due to pervasive disease. It may be the diversity afforded by the forest growing environment slows the spread of disease. There are many contributing factors to the uniqueness of Ethiopian coffee ranging from the growing systems to the diversity of varieties. The result is a country filled with coffee that is of some of the best quality in the world. Growing Coffee in Ethiopia As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia is home to more species of coffee plants than any place on earth, much of it still growing wild, and much of it still undiscovered. All Ethiopian coffee is Arabica and at least 150 varieties are commercially cultivated. Traditionally, these have simply been labelled as “heirloom varietals”; however, this is changing as the Jimma Agricultural Research Center works to identify species. Al