The Source - Ethiopia

If there’s one coffee fact you need to know about our co-founder, James at Jericho Coffee Traders, it’s that he loves a naturally processed Ethiopian coffee, so our Source has to be up to par to keep the boss man happy.

We love this coffee as a filter, AeroPress, or funky espresso-based drink. Add milk and it tastes like a berry milkshake.

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, Komilachu has been working with Tracon, who export this coffee for us, for over 10 years now.

Relationships like this are important due the particular way that coffee buying works in Ethiopia. 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.

Cherries are harvested and picked individually by hand. Pickers rotate among trees every eight to ten days, choosing only the cherries that are a deep red colour.

For the natural, the oldest method of processing coffee, the entire cherry after harvest is first cleaned and then placed in the sun to dry on tables lining the hills.