Ethiopia Wush Wush Black Honey Lot 2

Details

We could not be more excited to bring direct to you this amazing Ethiopian Wush Wush Black Honey from Keffa. Sourced through Catalyst Trade, this coffee is one of the most refined Ethiopian lots we have put our hands on, and represents our first lot ever from Wush Wush. 

Coffee Review: 93 points

Blind Assessment: Floral and richly fruit-toned. Guava, tea rose, sage, pralines, cane sugar in aroma and cup. Sweet-tart structure with winy acidity; full, syrupy mouthfeel. The rich finish leads with notes of tea rose and guava, supported by cane sugar.

Notes: Produced by smallholding farmers entirely of the indigenous Ethiopian Wush Wush variety of Arabica, and processed at Dinkalem Ademe’s washing station by the honey method, in which the skins are removed from the fruit but some of the fruit flesh is allowed to dry on the beans. RamsHead Coffee Roasters is a family-owned company founded by Bozeman, Montana natives Caleb and Laura Walker that specializes in direct trade microlot coffees.

The Bottom Line: A crisply juicy, rich-toned, fruit- and floral-laden honey-processed Wush Wush, offered at a great value

Coffee Background: Approximately 2500 smallholder farmers from the surrounding area bring their cherries to Dinkalem Ademe’s washing station, where the sign above the gate says, “GENALEM GEWYERO” —GOD IS GOOD”—a motto he and his wife, Sofiya have taken for their lives. Together they are a dynamic couple dedicated to helping their communities in every way. The outgrowers in the Ginbo district are smallholders, aka “garden farmers,” so called because most of them are producing coffee in the “garden” areas around their homes, and often harvesting cherries from coffee occurring naturally on the land where they live. Keffa coffee: Every part of Ethiopia has its own mystique, and the Western region of Keffa is no exception. The roads that thread the map are sparse and constantly traveled, giving up the rich scent of the red soil they are built from under the tires of Land Rovers and donkey carts. Rolling away from the roads like theater curtains are the fertile patchwork hills that disappear into a soft misty sky. Puffy trees emerge against the skyline like cotton balls dyed the deepest spring green. The people of Keffa carry their pride in coffee close to the bone. We've all heard the stories: Kaldi, a bored goat herder c. 850, notices his goats have extra energy after eating the fruit of a nearby bush, tries some for himself, and thus the coffee ritual is born. Whether that's really how coffee was discovered or not, we do know the legend originates from Keffa, and the very name of our beloved beverage derives from this region in the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia.

Tasting Notes: Spiced cider, dried orange peel, champagne grapes, black cardamom, clover honey