Ethiopia Konga (Natural)

12oz

Tropical candy, ripe berry, black tea

Region: Konga, Gedeo Zone, Yirgacheffe

Producer: Local producers surrounding the Konga washing station

Coop: Many smallholder farms

Varietal: Indigenous heirloom cultivars

Process: Natural

Yirgacheffe is in Southern Ethiopia, South of the capital city of Addis Ababa and completely within the larger area of Sidamo. Despite its small size, Yirgacheffe is highly prized for the quality of the coffee produced there. Producers in the region often cultivate “coffee gardens,” with farms of 0.5-1.5 hectare and interplant their coffee with other cash crops like bananas. There are over 43,000 coffee producers in Yirgacheffe who cultivate around 62,000 hectares of land, much of which is over 2,000 meters above sea level. 

Our supplier for this lot, YKM Coffee Trading, has three generations of coffee growers over 54 years, starting before any coffee processing machines were used in the country. Now they operate 3 washing stations and 6 sun-drying stations in Yirgacheffe, Guji, Gedeb, and Sidamo, and they are one of the largest exporters in Ethiopia. 

This natural process coffee is grown between 1800-2200 meters above sea level and is processed at the Konga sun-drying station from neighboring smallholder farms in the Konga village. This Konga natural process coffee enjoys the highest quality grade offered in Ethiopia and as such only ripe cherries are selected, and they are meticulously sorted to reduce the occurrence of defects. This leads to a vibrant and complex cup with lots of florals, lemony acidity, ripe red fruits, black tea and a perfumey candy-like finish.