**New** ETHIOPIA AYLA SHANTAWENE

Key lime pie, peach candy, bergamot and jasmine florals. Sweet, lush, fragrant.

Roast Level  |  Light Medium  

‘Testi’ is the local Harrari word for happiness, as well as the name of the coffee-exporting company that has produced this remarkable coffee. Established by  Faysel Abdosh in 2009, Testi Specialty Coffee now owns twenty washing stations, servicing thousands of farmers in the Southwest Gedeo Zone region of Ethiopia-particularly Guji, West Arsi, Sidama, and Yirgacheffe.

This coffee is grown by communities surrounding Shantawene kebele (village). Come harvest time, the fresh-picked cherry is delivered to the Ayla washing station, where it is depulped and fermented for 36-48 hours. After fermentation is complete, the wet parchment is washed in long channels to scrub off residual mucilage and float off the lowest-density coffee. The coffee, now in parchment, is dried on raised mesh tables for 5-7 days and rotated consistently, until reaching a final moisture content of 11-12 percent. This coffee underwent a final meticulous sorting to be a top grade 1, making it virtually defect-free.

The company’s mission is not only to provide the greatest quality coffee, but also to give back to those who play a major role in growing and cultivating the coffee. With this in mind, Testi has launched a social program called Project Direct, which focuses on supporting coffee farmers and their families in tangible and positive ways. Initiatives funded by Testi include paying higher prices for coffee cherry and building primary schools in both Aricha and Guji, where they fund all school supplies and provide financial support and scholarships to top performing students. In addition, the project has also helped communities access clean water and electricity in the remote areas around their washing stations.