Ethiopia - Worka Sakaro

There aren't many novel things I can say about Ethiopian coffee. Many farms throughout the country have been growing beautiful coffees full of vibrance, clarity, and sweetness (just to name a few of the many descriptors one could accurately attribute to the Ethiopian terroir) for a long, long time. However, the brilliant farmers at Worka Sakaro, a washing station in the region of Gedeb in Yirgacheffe, have managed to produce a truly unique coffee that I can honestly say I've never tasted the like of. I often find that a lot of anaerobic/fermented coffees have this "funky" quality that I'm not necessarily a fan of. Sometimes this funkiness leads the coffee to taste one-note, masking some of the nuance flavors that would otherwise be there. This is not the case here! I feel that the anaerobic process used here provides the cup with the the juicy/fruity qualities that one tends to expect with natural processing, but you also find the trademark Ethiopian florality that tends to fade away with these processing methods.

Once the cherries arrive to Tracon’s Worka Sakaro Washing Station, they are submerged in clean water to wash out any possible dirt or contamination that could affect the development of bacteria inside the fermentation tank. Once all cherries are clean and classified by their density, the heaviest cherries are selected and placed inside the fermentation tanks. These tanks were modified to have a one way relief valve added to the top of the tanks along with a hose that is placed inside a water bottle outside of the tank. The hose is placed inside the water bottle allowing the water to act as a barrier so that no oxygen can enter inside the tank and only allowing gasses to exit the tank, creating an environment free of oxygen within the tanks. After fermenting in the tanks for 72 hours, the coffee is then transferred to complete drying on raised drying beds for 17 days where the coffees are routinely raked and rotated by hand to assure consistent exposure and uniform drying during the drying phase.

Once again, I am really proud to be able to play a small role in bringing this coffee to you and I hope you enjoy.

Varietal: Gibirinna 74110 & Serto 74112
Processing: 72 hour Anaerobic Fermentation
Country: Ethiopia
Region: Gedeb, Yirgacheffe
Notes: Blood Orange, Blooming Flower

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