Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Idido Wogida Grade 1

About Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Idido Wogida Grade 1

Arrived very beginning of October, in grainpro. This is one of two top washed Yirgacheffe coffees that we were able to secure this season for customers. It arrived in the US just a few weeks before arriving at our warehouse. 

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Washed Idido Wogida coffee is produced by 700 small farmers in the Idido village, located in the larger Gedeo zone. It is a lot of mixed heirloom varieties, which are handpicked, washed, fermented and dried on raised beds with simulated shade netting for 21 days at the Adorsi-Testi Wash Station. The coffee cherries are carefully managed while immersed in the fermentation tanks, taking great care to remove lower quality cherries prior to their placement on the raised beds. The washing station and high-altitude farms are located at elevations above 6,200 feet.

The Yirgacheffe district (or “woreda”) is part of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) within the larger Gedeo Zone, named after the Gedeo people. The SNNPR shares a border with Uganda to the west, Kenya to the south and the Oromia region to the east. Coffee production remains the primary agricultural industry in the SNNPR, which also claims the well known village of Kochere.

• Regional State: Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region
• Zone: Gedeo
• Woreda (District): Yirgacheffe
• Kebele (Village): Wogida
• Washing Station:  Adorsi
  
• Altitude: 1900-2200 Meters above sea level
• Coffee Variety: Heirloom, Cultivars, and indigenous landraces
• Processing: Fully washed
  
• Harvest: October-January

The Adorsi Washing Station, owned and run by Testi, is very large.  It has 250 drying tables, providing some insight into how many local producers bring their coffee to the station for processing. Adorsi, like most area washing stations, processes with both washed and natural methods. 

An aerial view of the many drying tables at the Adorsi Wash Station

Testi owner Faysel Abdosh is a strong believer in working with farming communities and growing together. Testi Coffee has also invested in building a school for the community's children in the area. "We have a good relationship with our farmers", says Faysel, as he explains how he wants the farmers to see the washing stations as their own. In addition, the washing station shares profits with the farming community, providing an incentive to ever improve the quality of the coffee they bring. Also, since each community's lots are processed separately, profits find their way back to each community.

Cup Characteristics: Aromas of brown sugar and roasted chestnuts.  Flavors of maple, butter and toasted bread as well as rosewater. Big broad mouthfeel. Another first rate washed Yirgacheffe with exotic spice notes and satisfying presence.

Roasting Notes: Full City is a nice level for this coffee, taking it up to, but not pushing beyond 2nd crack. At City+ which is slightly lighter, the floral and lemony character is preserved, but the body will be a bit reduced. Yirgacheffe coffees can be roasted a bit darker if that is your preference. The beans, being grown at high elevations, are hard and dense but the flavor range will be narrower and florals will be lost.