TASTING NOTES

Coffee tasting notes for Natural Bookkisa from Ethiopia: peach, lime, orange, graham, grape aroma, juicy body

COFFEE BACKGROUND FOR BOOKKISA, ETHIOPIA

Sookoo Coffee operates in Ethiopia, in the Guji zone of the Oromia region. While the western part of Guji is lush with forests and jungles, Sookoo is located on the more arid eastern side. The area is rich in minerals and gold, and heavy strip mining has led to major deforestation. Responsible coffee growing presents an opportunity to refresh the area’s landscape both economically and ecologically.

We first met Ture Waji in 2018 when he was working as export manager for his family’s farms, before launching Sookoo Coffee later that year. “Sookoo” is the word in the local language for “gold” — and Ture believes coffee can be “the new gold,” revitalizing the land rather than exploiting it. Sookoo Coffee operates several drying stations high in the mountains outside Shakisso. They incentivize local farmers to sell top-quality coffee cherries by paying one to two birr higher per kilogram. Prices are arranged before harvest, so farmers know what to expect without need for haggling. Sookoo also offers training and financing for farmers, and schooling for kids, promoting education and improved coffee growing practices.

Sookoo Coffee hosted Mike Marquard at their Dambi Uddo drying station and mill in February 2020. Here we discussed Ture’s goals for Sookoo Coffee. This includes replanting native trees on coffee farms and distributing trees to member farmers. A leader in the new generation of coffee growing in eastern Guji, Ture embodies responsibility toward the land and people of Ethiopia, and we feel privileged to share the third harvest of our partnership.

This natural process offering comes from Bookkisa, a locality near the town of Shakisso in Southern Ethiopia, and represents about 35 farmers who are part of the group of Sookoo coffee growers. Natural processing methods complement the signature, fruit-forward flavor profile of this region’s coffee. Anticipate a cup with grape aromatics and a juicy body. Fruity flavor notes fill the cup with tastes of peach, lime, orange, and graham.