ETIOPIA - SHAKISO [ESPRESSO]

We recommend this lot for ESPRESSO and ITALIAN MOKA

• Origin: Guji, Ethiopia
• Variety: Indigenous varieties
• Farm: Kayon Mountain
• Tasting notes: Sweet mandarin, toffee, panela
• Process: Natural
• Certified: Organic

Kayon Mountain farm covers 500 hectares, about 300 of which are dedicated to coffee. Since 2012, Ismael Hassen Aredo and his family have owned and managed it in the Guji Zone, Shakiso District (Oromia, Ethiopia), 510 km south of Addis Ababa, between the villages of Taro and Sewana. 

It has 25 permanent employees and up to 300 seasonal workers. It provides free transportation and financial support for building schools and administrative buildings for the community. To compete with a nearby mining town for seasonal labor, it pays higher wages and encourages pickers to return each year.

The farm has its own nursery and protects its coffee plots with acacias and other native trees, which it also uses to make compost. It produces washed and natural coffees. For the latter, the cherries are sorted and cleaned on harvest day, then dried on raised beds, turned frequently for 8–25 days depending on the weather.