Ethiopia is known for its attention to detail at all stages of the coffee process, from farming, to washing, to milling and sorting. One importer, Keffa Coffee, worked with private washing station owner Masrshu Sima to develop incredibly stringent quality practices. In fact, another name for this coffee is YirgZ, with Z standing for “Zero”—as in “zero defects.”
Masrshu Sima’s washing station collects coffee cherry from approximately 1500 farmers in Kochere, Yirgacheffe, and washes and dries the coffee with extreme attention to detail, selecting only ripe cherry, and focusing on slow, even drying.
In pre-export sorting, Mr. Sima and his mill workers go above and beyond normal Grade 1 standards—the Ethiopian government’s highest export rating. For YirgZ, Mr. Sima asks the 200 women at his dry mill to take roughly eight times longer than normal to sort out any under-ripe or otherwise defective beans, with the goal of producing a zero defect lot.
Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping the Ethiopia Kochere, from Bold Bean Coffee Roasters in Jacksonville, Florida. Feel free to pull up a chair.
THEDETAILS:
region: Kochere, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia
farm: Masrshu Sima Washing Station
producer: smallholder farmers
association: Ethiopia Commodity Exchange
elevation: 1900 – 2000 meters above sea level
cultivars: Ethiopia Heirloom
process: fully washed, raised bed dried
certifications: standard
BREWINGSPECS:
method: Chemex
grind: 20, Preciso
coffee: 36 g
water: 500 mL
bloom: 1:00
pour: 2:00 pour, 1:00 drop
CUPPINGNOTES:
The aroma of this Ethiopia Kochere is soft, delicate, lightly sweet, and perfumed with fragrances of strawberry, lemon, jasmine, stone fruit, and caramel.
Taking my first few sips of the cup immediately post-brew, a coffee that’s on the lighter side of a medium-bodied profile spreads over the palate with a lightly creamy mouthfeel that is characterized by toffee and salted caramel. There are some fruit elements up front too, including cantaloupe and stone fruit, but they’re far less pronounced and sort of mingle in the background.
As the cup cools off, it becomes much finer and more delicate. Fragrant jasmine aromatics play up front, bringing in a sweet and zesty mix of nectarine, apricot, cantaloupe, and lemon rind.
Medium body; creamy mouthfeel; citrus acidity; clean finish.
FINALTHOUGHTS:
Ethiopia Kochere, at its absolute best, is delicate, fragrant, floral, fruity, and sweet. I’ve had a lot of really great experiences with the Ethiopia Kochere; it’s become one of my absolute favorites.
Bold Bean Coffee Roasters absolutely nailed this complex coffee.
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Andrew is a husband, father, dog lover, craft beverage enthusiast, content creator, and niche market Internet celebrity. Formerly of A Table in the Corner of the Cafe and The Pulitzer Project and contributor to Barista Magazine and Mental Floss, he’s been writing on the Internet for years.