Tasting Notes:
HONEY, CINNAMON, PEACH. CREAMY

Aricha is the name of the washing station where this coffee is processed. Idido is the village, or kebele, where this coffee is grown and processed, in a microregion of Yirgacheffe. Aricha is about 8 kilometers from the center of Yirgacheffe Town. The coffee is picked ripe between November and January, depulped within 12 hours, and washed clean with spring water. The soils in this region are red-brown clay soil, about 1.5 meters deep.

Aside from its near-legendary status as the "birthplace" of Arabica coffee, there is much to love about Ethiopia as a producing nation, including but not limited to the incredible diversity of flavor and character that exists among microregions, specifically within the southwestern Gedeo Zone of Yirgacheffe within the region of Sidama -- areas whose names alone conjure thoughts of the finest coffees in the world. Coffee was literally made to thrive in the lush environment Yirgacheffe’s forests provide, developing nuanced floral characteristics, articulate sweetness and sparkling acidity. However, coffee has also adapted to the more arid climate of Harrar, in the northeast of the country; the varieties planted there have historically had more chocolatey, rich undertones. Processing, of course, also plays a significant part in what makes Ethiopian coffees distinct -- both distinctly Ethiopian, as well as distinct from one another, washed or natural. One of the other things that make Ethiopia distinct as a growing country is the complexity involved in the coffee market there, and the myriad systems and customs that ensure there's never a dull moment in sourcing the best lots, whether they are from individual farms, co-operatives or grower groups, or from the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), a market institution founded in 2008 in attempt to protect small farmers from various risks and market forces that threaten the profitability of their harvest.