ETHIOPIA biftu gudina LOT#1
General Information
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Origin: Western Ethiopia
Region: Agaro District, Jimma Cooperative: Biftu Gudina Washing Station: Biftu Gudina Cultivars: Metu Bishari Selection (including varieties: 74110, 74112, 74140, 74148 & 74165) Altitude: 1.975 - 2.200 masl Process: Washed with a single wet fermentation and sun-dried on African beds Harvest: December 2018 - February 2019 Grade: Specialty Washed Grade 1 Warehouse: Barcelona & Santiago Packaging: 60 Kg w/ GrainPro Score: 88 Notes: Apricot, honey, lime, floral Ikawa Roasting Profile: http://bit.ly/2XDConc Preparation: Filter recommended |
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TRACEABILITYLocated over rich soils and surrounded by dense forests and hundreds of traditional varieties, the cooperative Biftu Gudina is one of the best examples of quality in Ethiopian coffee of our recent memory, with delicate floral aromas and a vibrant and effervescent acidity.
The cooperative was established in 2012 as part of a Technoserve initiative to improve the livelihoods of local coffee farmers and generate quality premiums through the establishment of improvements in the process. In addition to the Biftu Gudina washing station, new roads were built to facilitate coffee transportation, new processing equipment was purchased and an innovative waste water filtration system was installed. After being harvested selectively by hand, coffee growers sort the cherries by density before starting production. A Penagos pulper removes skin, pulp and mucilage. With this machine they completely eliminate the mucilage without the need of fermentation. After the coffee is washed and sorted by density in the washing channels, it goes to soaking in clean water for about 3 to 10 hours. The drying and sorting starts under shade for a couple of days, and then drying continues under the sun on African beds for about 10 days. INDUSTRY, ECONOMY AND POLITICSEthiopia is an extraordinary and complex origin, probably the most complex of all. It is also a diverse and dispersed place to work. One must invest a lot of time travelling, cupping and researching lost pieces of information to understand the coffee industry through its culture, history, geography, economy and politics.
Coffee is so important for Ethiopia, that by itself supports the trade balance of a country of more than 100 million people. It is the main source of foreign currency income, reaching record sales of USD 882 million in 2017. In addition, it is estimated that the livelihood of 15 million people depend directly on coffee production. Since Ethiopian economy highly reliant on imports, its Trade Balance is permanently negative, this means there is a constant deficit of dollars or strong currencies in the public and private reserves. For this reason, there are many non-coffee related players involved in coffee exports, and so many others wanting to join. Approximately 40% of the export revenues are lost in the hands of unnecessary intermediaries or middle man, during the production and logistics processes. Since 2017, the coffee industry in Ethiopia has allowed the direct sales to importers by washing stations. Before, everything has to be marketed through the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX). The ECX is an equivalent to the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, but inefficient and poorly organized; where lots are mixed in large production areas, and therefore, traceability and quality are usually lost or degraded. About 90% of Ethiopian coffee is produced by small holder farmers, who deliver their cherries to the washing stations that are located closest to their farms. These washing stations are grouped into Cooperatives, where through a board of directors they elect their representatives. And the cooperatives are grouped into unions, which function as an "umbrella" organization, providing assistance for the cooperatives, washing stations and farmers, in the most important areas of: marketing, cultivation and production, financing, processing, logistics and exports. We have decided to work only with Unions of Cooperatives, and not with exporters through the ECX. This means that we have access to first-hand information when cupping and selecting lots, more transparency regarding the costs and finance of the Union, more traceability, less unnecessary intermediaries and greater socioeconomic impact for the small holder farmer. VARIETIES AND HEIRLOOMAccording to the Cambridge dictionary, the word "Heirloom" has the following meanings:
1.- valuable object that older members of a family have given to younger members of the same family for many years. 2.- a fruit, plant or seed of a type, which has existed for many years. From a botanical point of view, the definition of an heirloom variety establishes that this must be open-pollinated. Arabica coffee is a self-pollinated crop, so from the very beginning the definition of heirloom doesn’t apply to Arabica coffee. For many years in the coffee industry, the word Heirloom has been used as a generic term to describe one or a group of unknown cultivated varieties in a particular lot, farm or region, that over a long period of time has been planted and passed from a coffee farmer to the next. Since the Specialty Coffee movement started to rise in western countries, there was an obvious necessity for traceability and more information. Although the Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC), has been working since the 70’s in researching and developing new varieties, at the time, importers had very little information to describe the varieties of the coffees they were buying from Ethiopia. Today, thanks to scientists such as Getu Bekele, who have been studying Ethiopian wild and cultivated varieties for decades, we can learn, recognize and differentiate, two big groups of Ethiopian Coffee Varieties: the Regional Landraces and the JARC improved. There are between 6.000 to 10.000 Regional Landraces and the JARC has developed around 40 improved varieties, which has been distributed among farmers all over the country. These improved varieties address issues of CBD, leaf rust, cup quality and yielding, and today, are widely used all over the coffee growing regions in Ethiopia. For example, if we analyzed the Jimma Region, we can learn that the improved varieties of the area belong to the Metu Bishari Selection of 1974/75 including: 74110, 74112, 74140, 74148 & 74165 varieties. The Regional Landraces found in this area will include: Kuburi, Bedessa, Yawan and Dalacha among others. Also, there will be a specific and different set of improved varieties and Regional Landraces found in Yirgachefe/Sidamo, Harar, Gera and Walaga. |
THE PROCESS
BIFTU GUDINA LOCATION
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WHERE WE ARE
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