This is Part 3 in a series of posts called “What Does A Green Coffee Buyer Do”. If you haven’t read the previous posts, we recommend you start here, Part 1: Planning. It’s time to start finding the first coffees of the season. Since it became legally possible to hold Read more…
This is Part 2 in a series of posts called “What Does A Green Coffee Buyer Do”. If you haven’t read the previous posts, we recommend you start here, Part 1: Planning. It’s November and I’m in Ethiopia, doing the on-the-ground-planning for the upcoming harvest. On my way to breakfast Read more…
Part 1 – Planning This is Part 1 in a series of posts called “What Does A Green Coffee Buyer Do”. See also Part 2: Reporting. Many coffee professionals listen to a coffee buyer talk about travel to exotic countries, and dream of doing the same one day. It is Read more…
Ethiopian coffees are known for needing some time to rest before they open up. Cupping coffees before this rest can be challenging, the flavors can be muted or hidden and sometimes it’s hard to see through the grape-like astringency. Once the coffee has opened up, it is easier to see Read more…
After the coffee has been grown, picked, washed (or not), dried and sorted it is now almost ready for export! When the coffee leaves the washing stations – if it is heading to the Ethiopian Commodity (ECX) it will be the ECX who grade the coffee prior to accepting the Read more…
Once the coffees have been delivered to the washing station, they are then sorted to be used as natural or washed coffees – or even honeys as discussed in Part 1. After they have been sorted and processed in their respective ways they are then laid out to dry on Read more…
Having been under construction for the past five months and nearing completion Israel Degfa’s new washing station is just needing those few finishing touches that will make it a great example to other washing stations and the largest in the surrounding area. Mezgebu Mokonen who is the accountant for the Read more…
As many of you will know, Ethiopia is the largest coffee producer in Africa and is currently ranked fifth in the world order of coffee production. Ethiopia also has a number of very distinct growing regions which each produce appealingly different tasting coffees. It can be a complex topic to Read more…
Organic certification is and has been for some time, a concern for health conscious consumers wanting to purchase a higher quality ‘natural’ product as well as wanting to do their part for the environment. A question that often arises is that of Ethiopian organic coffee. It is true that organic Read more…
Cherries to Compost Sustainability at washing stations is always on the minds of our producers here in Ethiopia. This is not only due to the environmental impact that a great sustainability programme can have on the surrounding area but also on the local farming community. A great example of this Read more…