Duromina, which means “to improve their lives” in the Afan Oromo language, is a coffee cooperative in southwestern Jimma Zone. Coffee has grown here for generations but was traditionally processed using the dry, natural method. Farmers paid little attention to quality control. Despite an ideal climate and altitude for coffee growing, the area’s coffee was synonymous with poor quality. Year after year, farmers received low prices for their coffee, earning little income as a result. On paper these farmers had it all; very high altitude, rich and fertile soils, Ethiopia’s incredibly complex heirloom varietals and good rainfall. The missing link was quality control. Now that this has been addressed, the Duromina farmers produce coffees of outstanding quality with scores of 90+ being achieved.

In 2010, around one hundred local coffee farmers banded together to form Duromina. As the name suggests, their goal was simple: to improve their lives. With technical support, business advice and access to finance through TechnoServe’s Coffee Initiative, the members acquired and installed a wet mill and began processing fully washed coffee for the first time. These improvements helped Duromina produce high-quality coffee and bring new prosperity to the community. Two years later, an international panel of professional judges would select Duromina’s coffee as the best in Africa, awarding the cooperative the top prize in the leading regional cupping competition.*

NPR wrote an article which prominently featured the Ethiopia Duromina Cooperative. You can find it HERE.

Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping the Ethiopia Duromina, from Sey Coffee in Brooklyn, New York, courtesy of Craft Coffee. Feel free to pull up a chair.

THEDETAILS

region: Agaro, Jimma, Oromia, Ethiopia
farm: various
producer: smallholder farmers
association: Ethiopia Duromina Cooperative
elevation: 2200 meters above sea level
cultivars: Ethiopia Heirloom
process: fully washed, raised bed dried

CUPPINGNOTES

The aroma of the Ethiopia Duromina is perfumed, fragrant, and elegant, blossoming with florals, stone fruit, and citrus.

The flavor follows the nose, and the coffee’s profile is every bit as delicate and elegant as its aroma. It’s a light-bodied coffee, with a silky mouthfeel and soft citric acidity. This is a balanced, clean coffee, too; every flavor component is easily identifiable (which is great, because the flavors in this cup are beautiful). It’s a floral-forward coffee with dominant flavors of peach blossom and oolong tea. There isn’t much in the way of sugary sweetness in this cup besides some light honey nuances, but those floral flavors are backed up by a flood of juicy peach, watermelon, and Meyer lemon which play through a clean finish.

*content courtesy of Falcon Coffees

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