Coffee Sensory

Guji Shakiso from Ethiopia

Perched in the highlands above 1,800 meters, the Guji serves as a gathering point for more than 500 smallholder farmers, each contributing carefully hand-picked cherries from their nearby farms. After harvest, the cherries are meticulously sorted and slowly dried under the Ethiopian sun, allowing the fruit to fully develop its character. The result is a vibrant and expressive cup, layered with notes of ripe cherry, tropical fruit, and milk chocolate, finishing with a delicate, wine-like brightness and silky body.

Gigesa Washing Station

The Gigesa washing station is owned and operated by the Yonis family. As part of the quality control process, fresh cherries are floated in water to separate lower qualities before depulping. Traditional disc pulpers are used and the coffee is allowed at least 24 hours to ferment before being fully washed and set to dry on raised beds for 10-12 days on average. We have had the pleasure of working with Faysel since 2015 and the coffee never disappoints!

Guji

Guji is a Zone in the Oromia Region of southern Ethiopia. Most residents of this region are Oromo and speak the Oromo language, which is entirely different from the Ethiopia’s main language of Amharic. Like many of the country’s coffee growing regions, the culture of the Guji Zone varies from woreda to woreda and speaks to the diversity of people who cultivate coffee. More small washing stations are being built in Guji to respond to the demand for improvements in processing to fully capture the range of attributes found in Ethiopian coffee. The Zone’s principle fresh water source is the Ganale Dorya river, which also acts as the boundary line with the neighboring Bale zone to the east.