ETHIOPIA HARU

Haru is a washing station just outside the infamous Yirgacheffe, but with a distinct enough profile to demand its own recognition.
First set up in 1979, the current owner, Komilachu, has taken on a piece of Ethiopian history, as this was one of the first washing stations to bring quality Ethiopian coffee to a worldwide audience.

With 320 raised beds across just over 4 hectares.
Controls have started to be relaxed so that these may now flourish and coffee can be sold ‘forward’, rather than bought as spot coffee through the ECX. A washing station is not allowed to also export their coffee, so has to work with an additional exporter.

Komilachu also owns a small farm next door to the washing station that also contributes to the lots. Like most of the area, coffee is shade grown under a mixture of endemic species, in line with its history.

Although coffee is from Ethiopia, over generations people have selected varietals that work best for them in their circumstances. This means that there is a varietal dominance in each landscape, often being described as heirloom for ease. 74112 which dominates here is a Kurume ‘type’ coffee, with similar morphological characteristics to a good yielding indigenous fruit tree. It is common to name coffee selections after local characteristics and this was the case where the coffee tree resembled the ‘Kurume’ fruit tree.