TASTING NOTES

Coffee tasting notes for Getu Gemadro, Ethiopia: peach, lime, white tea, honeydew, floral, orange, gummy candy, honey, green apple, stone fruit, brown spice 

COFFEE BACKGROUND

Getu Gemadro comes from the Sheka Zone in Western Ethiopia. This region is in the genetic home of Arabica coffee — the birthplace of coffee as we know it. Arabica coffee trees grow throughout this incredibly remote and plush Sheka Forest Biosphere. This specific lot comes from small growers around the Gemadro village who sell their semi-forest coffee to the washing station owned by Getu Hambela.

Like more than 40% of Ethiopian coffee since the 1960s, this coffee is fully washed. Farmers collect coffee cherries throughout the day. By the early afternoon, they start to deliver them to the washing station. There, station workers hull the cherries and separate them from the seeds. Then, they place the seeds in large tanks to soak under water, breaking down the sticky fruit mucilage still clinging to them. After 18-36 hours of soaking, the wet seeds move into channels where water is run over them and station workers rake them against the current to fully wash away all of the mucilage. Finally, the coffee seeds dry on raised beds for a period of 7-14 days. The result is a clean, floral cup with subtle tones of peach, lime, and honey. 

Our partners at Moplaco own and operate the nearby Kawo Kamina farm, from which we’ve sourced a number of coffees. They also operate a number of washing stations throughout Ethiopia along with multiple dry mills. Our meetings with Moplaco on our 2018 and 2020 sourcing trips showed us a company committed to intentionality, its people, rigorous milling and sorting, careful processing, and sustainable farming practices. This coffee exemplifies Moplaco’s reputation for sorting and preparing beautiful lots of washed coffee from all corners of Ethiopia. It’s a treat for Moplaco to connect us with more quality producers in Western Ethiopia.