Ethiopia – Zeritu & Banchayehu, Filter

Guji, as a coffee region, is significantly different than its neighboring regions, Sidamo and Yirgacheffe. It has gained reputation and stature because of its unique and differentiating flavor profiles. Coffee producers/farmers deliver their ripe cherries to the washing station where the cherries are sorted and pulped with absolute care. After pulping, the beans are fermented for 36 to 48 hours and then washed. The wet beans in parchment are placed on raised drying beds in thin layers and turned every 2 to 3 hours during the first few days of the drying process. Depending on weather, the beans are dried for 10 to 12 days until the moisture in the coffee beans is reduced to 11.5 percent. then this beans are transported to Addis Ababa, the capital, to be milled and bagged prior to export.

The washing station is called ZB, short for Zeritu and Banchayehu, the names of the wife and daughter of the co-owner and founder, Bekena. The station is located in Masina town, in the Adola area of Sidamo Guji. Coffees grow in small farmers backyards in the Yirgacheffe region. The coffees are known as “Garden coffee” and they are harvested from October-January.