Medium
Passion fruit, grape candy, lemon drop.
Arguably one of the “best of the best” of Ethiopian Natural Processed coffees, this cup is a swirling celebration of fruitiness: ripe peach, raspberry sorbet, and lemon drop meet chocolate ganache, passion fruit, and grape candy. Add to that combo a sweet citric acidity, smooth body, and lingering finish for a truly outstanding coffee.
There’s a reason this is lot is called Special Prep. 2016-17 boots-on-the-ground direction by Catalyst Coffee Consulting at the Hafursa Cooperative enabled experimentation with different screen sizes in search of outstanding cup character. They found that combining screens 13-17 resulted in an exemplary coffee with complex, layered sweetness.
In preparation for this special lot, all coffee processing equipment was cleaned and calibrated to accommodate this range of screen sizes. Following the screening, workers sorted the cherries for density, then optically sorted, and finally sorted by hand. While most coffees receive about 30 seconds attention per stop of the conveyor belt, this special lot received a full 7 minutes per stop! For this extra care, specially trained sorters were paid a daily bonus of 110 birr in addition to their normal wage of 35 birr a day.
The Gedeo zone in the southwest of Ethiopia, is the homeland of the Gedeo people. Lying about 369 long kilometers from Addis Ababa on dusty and often difficult roads, this zone occupies a narrow strip of the Ethiopian highlands on the Eastern Escarpment and includes the town of Yirgacheffe itself. Gedeo is bordered by Sidama on the north, and encircled on the other three sides by the Oromia region.
In Gedeo, Yirgacheffe, approximately 25,000 local coffee smallholders bring their cherries to washing stations for processing. Inter-tribal conflicts in late 2016 resulted in extensive property damage through fire and vandalism, with many key mills rendered inoperative. Furthermore, a rare late frost damaged thousands of hectares of coffee. Resilient and hopeful, the Gedeo people are forging ahead, producing natural coffees while working to repair washing facilities.
Started by Tim Jordan and Jason Griest in an obscure alley in Sacramento in 2006, Old Soul Co. has grown rapidly but still enthusiastically shares the same vision ten years later: "celebrate the artisan aspects of bread baking and coffee roasting and dedicate ourselves to getting better at our crafts everyday!"
Old Soul's coffee sourcing practices set them apart: owner Jason Griest travels to as many of the farms growing Old Soul's coffees as possible. In Sacramento, Old Soul is deeply involved in volunteering and giving back to the community. The roasting company has received many 90+ and "Best Of" awards over the past years.
Medium
Brown sugar, marzipan, roasted cacao nib.
$19 / 12oz
Light/Medium
Lemon, dark chocolate, bergamot.
$20 / 12oz
Cashew, caramel, chocolate.
$19 / 12oz
Light/Medium
Orange rind, graham cracker, chocolate ganache.
$19.50 / 12oz
Medium
Milk chocolate, pecan, citrus.
$19.50 / 12oz
Medium/Dark
Cocoa, pecan, berry.
$19.50 / 12oz
Light/Medium
Orange rind, black currant, banana.
$20 / 12oz
Medium
Dried fruit, chocolate, caramel.
$19 / 12oz