ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia is known as the birthplace of coffee. Here, unlike in many other producer countries, coffee cultivation is not a legacy of colonization: the coffee plant used to grow wild or semi-wild here, in a region where much of the land lies at an altitude of over 5,000 ft.

There are few plantations and large farms; coffee is grown in gardens, in forest or semi-forest, without the use of chemicals. Ninety percent of all the coffee produced, which can be regarded as organic although not certified as such, comes from more than 700,000 small producers. Productivity is not high, and traceability stops (with the odd exception) at the washing stations, where the harvests are pooled.

In particular, Ethiopia possesses the greatest genetic diversity of coffee plants and Arabica varieties in the world, and its forests are home to the quality coffees of the future.

THE FLAVORS OF AN ETHIOPIAN COFFEE: YIRGACHEFFE ARICHA

COFFEE FACTS

Annual production: 438, 168 US tons

World market share: 4.6%

Producer’s world ranking: 5th

Principal varieties: old varieties

Harvest period(s): November–February

Drying: wet process and dry process

Cup characteristics:

• Wet-processed coffees floral, citric acidity, and light body

• Dry-processed coffees notes of tropical fruits, strawberries