Ethiopia | Duwancho Microlot

Farmer // Multiple smallholder families

Region // Duwancho, Arbegona, Sidama

Process // Red Honey

Variety // Heirloom (JARC 74/158, 74/110, Setami)

Altitude // 1920-2330masl

Flavor Notes // Guava, Limeade, Bright

From Catalyst Trade:

As climatic shifts drive coffee production up the mountainsides in Ethiopia, new coffee producers arise, bringing their tiny cherries to Duwancho washing station, one of the highest-altitude washing stations in all of Ethiopia,. Duwancho is actually not far from Yaye, Chericho as the crow flies, but it still takes many hours to get to one site from the other.

Despite geographical proximity to Yaye, Duwancho has a very different micro-climate. This is expressed in red fruits, teas and melons. Vibrant tropical fruits, Alpine liqueurs and medicinal herbs grace our cupping tables from these coffees. This area shows the future of coffee quality...and the future is good.

Coffees from this area have also gained notoriety with outstanding performances in the past 3 Ethiopian COE competitions. The high elevation shows up in the slower ripening, dense, and tiny beans which make for really brilliant cupping profiles–sweet,
sparkling and vibrant. But of course, there’s more involved in this fascinating cup profile than altitude and temperature!

Coffee this lovely starts with red, ripe cherries that are density-sorted at the washing station to separate out unripe and lower density cherries before they move on to the next processing step. Duwancho washing station and its owner, Mr. Faysel Abdosh, and the Catalyst Trade team have partnered to create these lovely innovation lots.

Beyond coffee, Mr. Abdosh is deeply involved in community work. His foundation’s objective is to help raise awareness of the obstacles the people in coffee growing areas deal with on a daily basis: lack of infrastructure, minimal electricity and often no basic medical aid. Many coffee producers and their families struggle to make ends meet. Faysel, working with other benefactors, is making a real difference in the rural areas of Ethiopia. Among their projects are 2 primary schools in the Aricha area of Yirgacheffe along with a water pipeline in the Shantawene area, and a comprehensive
high school in Hamasho village.