Raro Nansebo (Boutique Series)

Description

This coffee will only be roasted on Tuesdays & Thursdays.

TASTING NOTES

blueberry, pineapple, vanilla, cranberry

COFFEE BACKGROUND

The Boutique Series features special varieties, unique processing methods, prestigious origin farms, and leaders in sustainability. Our team selects these limited offerings to showcase what we love most about coffee.

Raro Nansebo is a very remote area in the Uraga district of the Guji zone of southern Ethiopia. Our longtime sourcing partner Ture Waji — founder of Sookoo Coffee — operates within the Uraga and Shakiso districts. His team travels to three unique kebeles (villages) in Uraga to collect coffee cherries. Then, they deliver the cherries that same day to Sookoo’s processing station in Haro Wachu, Uraga. Sookoo processes the coffees from each kebele separately to better present the unique profile of each place.

Sookoo processed this lot using a technique called anaerobic natural processing. In this rare — but increasingly popular — method, station workers sort the fresh cherries and then ferment them in sealed plastic barrels for 72 hours. Then they spread the cherries on raised beds to dry for 3–4 weeks. Sookoo uses strict protocols to ensure quality while the coffee is drying. They spread the cherries in layers no more than 4 cm thick, and move them around on the beds multiple times a day, preventing over-fermentation. This anaerobic fermentation and drying method produces a brew with a full, silky body and intense jammy sweetness.

The coffee trees in Raro Nansebo are young — most are less than six years old. Additionally, most of the land in Uraga and Shakiso has been used only for grazing livestock. Ture is finding that the young coffee trees, paired with the uncultivated soil, grazing, and high altitudes, makes for amazing coffee. 

SOOKOO COFFEE

Ture founded Sookoo Coffee in 2019, naming his company after the local word for “gold”. His hope is to establish coffee as “the new gold” — a sustainable, profitable alternative to the deforestation and mining that have devastated his homeland. When we visited Ture this January, we were struck once again by the hope and passion he emits. He’s proud to bring a renewable and sustainable crop to the region — one that can revitalize the land rather than exploiting it.

Purchasing this beautiful lot from Raro Nansebo was an easy choice for us — not only because of our cherished relationship with Ture and Sookoo Coffee, but also because this coffee simply jumped off the cupping table. This cup showcases the natural sweetness of the coffee cherry. Its juicy vibrancy is an undeniable reminder that coffee is, after all, a fruit. We’re pleased to offer this bright, complex, fruity coffee as a demonstration of what we love about coffee from Guji at its very best.