Ethiopia Nafkot Admasu Natural

12oz

Cherry pie filling, bergamot, plum wine

Region: Yirgacheffe, Gedeo, Gedicho

Producer: Nafkot Admasu

Coop: Admasu farm

Varietal: Indigenous landraces and heirloom cultivars

Process: Natural

Nafkot Admasu, at 38 years old, is considered very young in Ethiopia, where the average age of a coffee farmer is still somewhere in the 60s. She is a mother of 3 and the owner of a 2-hectare farm—miniscule by global standards but well above average for her part of Ethiopia.  

This is only Nafkot’s 3rd harvest but the coffee is ready to stand alone. Her coffee this year is a super crisp, punchy and bright natural with a syrupy sweetness evocative of cherry pie filling, and soft but brisk aromatics of pink peppercorn and citrus peel.  

It’s incredible to have a 2-hectare farm microlot from anywhere on Earth, and we shouldn’t let ourselves take this for granted just because Ethiopia produces so many great naturals. Nafkot’s coffee, given her size, is extremely unlikely to ever make it to market on its own. While single farmer coffees are becoming more accessible in Ethiopia, most of them are viable because they are 10-plus hectares in size with ample cherry drying space. Nafkot, on the other hand, is not much different than a typical smallholder.  

Nafkot’s exporter, Ephtah Specialty Coffee, deserves a strong shout out too. Ephtah is women founded and owned, and while they are focused on the best microregions in Yirgacheffe, they’re particularly focused on the women farmers within them. Ephtah is an inspirational group who seems to know exactly what they want: the best coffees, and as many individual women farmers as they can promote.