The Table is, as a collective whole, a massive fan of coffee from the Kochere Cooperative and the coffees it produces; we have seen several of their coffees served upon this Table over the past few years. I remain impressed with the care and pride the members take in the cultivation and preparation of their coffees, as it shows beautifully in the cup on a very consistent basis.
Kochere is growing in popularity, showcasing the consistent diversity of Yirgacheffe’s unique terroir; by now, Kochere is well-known for consistently producing some of the most amazingly clean, floral, bright coffees available in the Yirgacheffe region.
Close to 100,000 local inhabitants rely on coffee as their main crop with which to feed their families. Of those 100,000 residents, the Kochere Cooperative consists of about 500 smallholder farmers who use shared wet mills to process their coffee, where it is washed and then dried on elevated drying beds.
The Kochere micro-region has long been known as one of the best origins for fully washed southern Ethiopian coffees. So much so, in fact, that now, about thirty percent of all coffee bearing the Yirgacheffe name comes from this specific area. The combination of very high altitude and iron-rich, acidic soil creates the ideal growing situation to produce the bright, floral Yirgacheffe profile.
Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping the Ethiopia Kochere, from Compelling Coffee in Los Angeles, California. Feel free to pull up a chair.
THEDETAILS:
region: Kochere, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia
farm: Kochere Washing Station
producer: smallholder farmers
association: Kochere Cooperative
elevation: 1750 – 2050 meters above sea level
cultivars: Wolisho, Kudhume, Dega
process: semi-washed, patio dried
certifications: standard
CUPPINGNOTES:
The aroma of this Ethiopia Kochere is absolutely wonderful. It’s a very fine and nuanced aroma; delicate, complex, and dynamic, wafting out of the cup with fragrances of honeysuckle, stone fruit, and some light white tea leaf aromatics playing out at the tail end of each sniff.
Taking my first few sips of the cup immediately post-brew, my palate is greeted by a coffee that is every bit of elegant and nuanced as its aroma suggested it would be. It’s light-bodied, silky, clean, intricately layered, sweet, somewhat tart, floral forward, and it graces the taste buds with a stunning clarity. Light honey, rose hips, and juicy peach.
As the cup cools off
peach, honeysuckle, rose hips, sweet iced tea, nectarine, apricot, lychee,
Light body; silky mouthfeel; citrus acidity; clean finish.
FINALTHOUGHTS:
I built this Table here in the corner of this cafe three years ago and, over the course of those three years, coffees from Ethiopia’s Kochere Cooperative and accompanying washing station have remained a favorite. They’re almost always so clean, classy, and delicious. And, as their name might indicate, Compelling and Rich Coffee’s Ethiopia Kochere was the ultimate expression of how fantastic these coffee are.
This iteration of the Kochere was a classy, elegant, delicious, complex, nuanced, and fine coffee; everything I was hoping it would be and then some.
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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.