Kickapoo Coffee Roasters // Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Banko Gotiti Natural

We have been buying beautiful naturally processed Ethiopians from the Worka cooperative for the last three years. This, however, is the first year that Worka has been able to separate individual lots from each of the three villages that contribute to their coffee: Banko Gotiti, Banko Dadhato, and Halo Bariti.

This lot hails from the Work Cooperative, located in the village of Banko Gotiti, Yirgacheffe. The village is located in the Southern part of the Gedeo region of Yirgacheffe where it borders the Northern part of Sidama.

The Worka Cooperative was founded in 2005 and joined the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU) the same year. It currently has 305 members. The members of each primary cooperative elect their own executive committee, which makes decisions about investments like new equipment and tree maintenance, and how to structure payments to the cooperative members.

YCFCU also appoints professional managers for each primary cooperative to oversee harvest and processing procedures, but the manager is accountable to the members and the executive committee.

Processed by the traditional sun dried natural method where harvested cherries are sorted for ripeness, cleaned and then placed on raised beds to dry. The coffee pulp is allowed to dry onto the bean. During the drying process the cherries are turned regularly for even drying, and can take several weeks to dry to the proper moisture content. Once dry the cherries are hulled, and the dried fruit is removed from the bean.

This lot was submitted to the taste of Africa coffee competition and took first place.

Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping a cup of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Banko Gotiti Natural, from Kickapoo Coffee Roasters in Viroqua, Wisconsin. Feel free to pull up a chair.

the basics:

region: Banko Gotiti, Gedeo, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia
farm: N/A
producer: smallholder farmers
association: Worka Cooperative
elevation: 1900 – 2100 meters above sea level
cultivars: Ethiopia Heirloom
process: natural, raised bed dried
certifications: Organic, Fair Trade

the coffee:

The aroma coming off of the Banko Gotiti is sweet, fragrant, perfumey, and lightly herbaceous. Mixed berries coalesce with violet petals, citrus, and spices.

The cup starts off lightly and delicately. Up front the body is light and the flavors are floral and spicy, predominantly. Tamarind, coriander, ginger, and clove nip at the tip of the tongue before introducing creamy salted caramel.

As it cools off, silky fruit juiciness bleeds through the cracks and slips and slides all over the palate. Luscious flavors of plum, tangerine, blueberry, cherry, blackberry, strawberry, apricot, and lemon bombard the tongue while a flutter of floral aromatics float up over the top and tickle the roof of the mouth—particularly violet, cherry blossom, and an Earl Grey tea flavor that leaves behind a slight astringency in the finish, which reveals notes of pistachio in the center of the tongue.

Light body; silky mouthfeel; citrus acidity; slightly dry finish.

the bottom line:

Honestly—Ethiopia has been really killin’ it in 2013. With the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Banko Gotiti Natural, from Kickapoo Coffee Roasters, the Table has been graced with yet another utterly unique Ethiopian coffee.

There are very few naturally-processed Ethiopian coffees that are as delicate and elegant (delicant?), but still as flavorful as this one manages to be. The Banko Gotiti has such crystal clarity, and it simply brims with tropical fruits, flower petals, and herbaceous aromatics that titillate the tongue.

This is a stunning coffee.

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