Ethiopia Banko Gotiti, Washed

Ethiopia and Yemen are the birthplaces of coffee. In Ethiopia there are over 1.1 million smallholder coffee farmers, delivering cherries to local washing stations. In the region where coffee is growing, most people dry, roast, and brew their coffee themselves. As a country, Ethiopia consumes over 40% of their production, compared to Kenya where they keep less than 5% of all the coffee produced in the country.

This is a grade 1 washed coffee from Banko Gotiti wetmill in Kochere district, in the Yirgacheffe coffee region. The mill, managed by Alemu Bukato, processes cherries from around 650 local farmers.

Gotiti kebele (village) is in Kochere district, near Yirgacheffe in the ‘Southern Nations, Nationalities & Peoples’ (SNNP) region of Ethiopia. Over a number of years the region has developed a distinguised reputation for fine coffees, producing some of the most sought-after microlots in the world. The combination of high altitude (up to 2,200m in some areas), fertile soil, consistent and plentiful rains, and an abundance of local knowledge are all contributing factors to the high status of Yirgacheffe coffees. The indigenous ‘heirloom’ varietals - which grow wild in Ethiopia - are responsible for the unique flavour notes which make for an unusual but beautifully refined cup, characterised by strong citric acidity, sweet chocolate and floral/herbal notes of lavender, jasmine, bergamot and thyme.

Ripe cherries are delivered to the wet-mill for careful sorting and pulping, before fermentation for 36-48 hours, depending on the climactic conditions. After this point the parchment coffee is thoroughly washed and graded by bean density before being dried in the sun on raised African beds for 12 - 15 days (until the ideal moisture level has been reached). In the daytime the parchment needs to be raked and turned periodically to ensure a consistent drying process. The coffee is also covered between 12pm and 3pm to protect it from the hot sun, and at night time to protect it from rainfall and moisture. Once the coffee has dried to the right level it is transported to Addis Ababa for dry- milling, grading, intensive sorting and handpicking, before being bagged in GrainPro for export.

This was the first coffee we bought from our very old friends at Covoya, whose work in Africa especially has inspired many of the standards which we hope to hold ourselves to. They have bought from Banko Gotiti every season for many years and the coffees high cupping scores are a testament to the excellence of its processing regimen and the hard work of the farming community supplying the mill.

With that level of consistency we are glad to have this coffee again this year, it’s the first coffee we have had for a following season and expect more to come. Our aim for Ithaka is to build a sustainable business, this manifests itself in many ways. One of which is purchasing year on year from the same producers, allowing our importers and producers to invest in the land and people behind the product The proof is in the cup.

This is a light roast coffee, and we’re really happy with how it's performing as filter but it can be a really interesting espresso too, berry like, light and silky in texture, with great sweetness. This will be a little lost in a latte though!

Espresso 19:42g 28s
Filter 15:  3:30s

We're finding best flavour and consistency around 21 days after roast, though fresher can still be delicious, just a little more work!