Organic Ethiopian Guji Baku (NEW)
Notes
The area around Buku Sayisa is renowned for producing certified organic coffee, a rarity due to the high costs of official certification. While most Ethiopian farmers naturally practice organic farming, few pursue the formal certification process.
Buku Sayisa, located in West Guji, is a washing station that specializes in natural processing. Ripe, sorted cherries from farms at an altitude of 2,300 masl are dried for 12 to 15 days on raised beds. By meticulously avoiding over fermentation during the drying process, Buku Sayisa producers craft elegant cup profiles like this Grade 1 coffee. Traceability is a key focus at Buku Sayisa, where a voucher system is used to track each coffee lot throughout the production chain. This system ensures that every step, from the receiving station to the drying stage, is documented, tying the coffee back to the farmers who produced it.
The Oromo people of the Guji region have their own unique origin story for the discovery of coffee, reflecting its deep cultural significance. According to their legend, instead of Kaldi the goatherder, the Oromo sky god Waaqa wept over the wrongful death of a loyal servant, and his tears brought forth a new plant from the earth. Since as early as the 10th century, coffee has been revered in Oromo culture as a special plant, with beans mixed with fats to provide energy on long journeys.
Centuries later, Guji farmers continue to follow traditional growing methods that enhance the region’s fertile soil. Many indigenous coffee varieties still thrive on Ethiopia’s coffee farms. Coffee is typically intercropped with maize, barley, wheat, beans, and other crops that sustain the farmers' families.
Cupping Notes
Notes of blueberry, honeydew, and jasmine honeysuckle, resulting in a sweet and sugary taste
The area around Buku Sayisa is renowned for producing certified organic coffee, a rarity due to the high costs of official certification. While most Ethiopian farmers naturally practice organic farming, few pursue the formal certification process.
Buku Sayisa, located in West Guji, is a washing station that specializes in natural processing. Ripe, sorted cherries from farms at an altitude of 2,300 masl are dried for 12 to 15 days on raised beds. By meticulously avoiding over fermentation during the drying process, Buku Sayisa producers craft elegant cup profiles like this Grade 1 coffee. Traceability is a key focus at Buku Sayisa, where a voucher system is used to track each coffee lot throughout the production chain. This system ensures that every step, from the receiving station to the drying stage, is documented, tying the coffee back to the farmers who produced it.
The Oromo people of the Guji region have their own unique origin story for the discovery of coffee, reflecting its deep cultural significance. According to their legend, instead of Kaldi the goatherder, the Oromo sky god Waaqa wept over the wrongful death of a loyal servant, and his tears brought forth a new plant from the earth. Since as early as the 10th century, coffee has been revered in Oromo culture as a special plant, with beans mixed with fats to provide energy on long journeys.
Centuries later, Guji farmers continue to follow traditional growing methods that enhance the region’s fertile soil. Many indigenous coffee varieties still thrive on Ethiopia’s coffee farms. Coffee is typically intercropped with maize, barley, wheat, beans, and other crops that sustain the farmers' families.
Cupping Notes
Notes of blueberry, honeydew, and jasmine honeysuckle, resulting in a sweet and sugary taste
Organic Ethiopian - Kayon Mountain (NO Stock)
Farm Notes
Introducing this arrival from the Kayon Mountain Coffee Estate in Ethiopia's Oromia region. Kayon Mountain was established in 2012, and began with the goal of producing high quality coffees while maintaining social and environmental progress in their community. The estate is privately owned by Ato Esmael and his family.
Coffee is harvested from October to February by members of local villages. Some of it is washed, fermented and dried on raised beds and the rest is left for the production of high quality natural processed coffee. The farm is a 240 hectare plot in fertile sandy clay loam soil beneath a canopy of natural forest. Freshly picked coffee cherries are washed with the low density beans being channeled away for a lower grade. The clean high grade coffees are then placed onto raised beds where for they dry for 12-20 days, before being hand-turned and picked over to ensure perfection.
Country of Origin: Ethiopia
Plant Species: Arabica
Processing: Natural/Dry Processed
Variety: Ethiopia Heirloom Varieties
Region: Guji
Farm Name: Kayon Mountain Farm
Growing Altitude: 1900-2200m
Certifications: Organic certified
Cupping Notes
Brownie, heavy body, cherry, toffee, blueberry
Introducing this arrival from the Kayon Mountain Coffee Estate in Ethiopia's Oromia region. Kayon Mountain was established in 2012, and began with the goal of producing high quality coffees while maintaining social and environmental progress in their community. The estate is privately owned by Ato Esmael and his family.
Coffee is harvested from October to February by members of local villages. Some of it is washed, fermented and dried on raised beds and the rest is left for the production of high quality natural processed coffee. The farm is a 240 hectare plot in fertile sandy clay loam soil beneath a canopy of natural forest. Freshly picked coffee cherries are washed with the low density beans being channeled away for a lower grade. The clean high grade coffees are then placed onto raised beds where for they dry for 12-20 days, before being hand-turned and picked over to ensure perfection.
Country of Origin: Ethiopia
Plant Species: Arabica
Processing: Natural/Dry Processed
Variety: Ethiopia Heirloom Varieties
Region: Guji
Farm Name: Kayon Mountain Farm
Growing Altitude: 1900-2200m
Certifications: Organic certified
Cupping Notes
Brownie, heavy body, cherry, toffee, blueberry
Organic Democratic Republic of Congo - Kivu (Low Stock)
Farm Notes
The 144 Roastery is proud to offer our first ever lot from the Democratic Republic of Congo sourced through the Virunga Coffee Company which was established in 2011. The 144 Roastery is proud to partner with the Virunga Coffee Company. Virunga Coffee Companies vision statement is to “Change lives in DRC through commerce in a mutually profitable way by being a major coffee actor in Kivu.”
Virunga Coffee aims to achieve this vision by improving the quality and yields for farmers in North and South Kivu, primarily through:
- Developing and implementing field-based support activities
- Introducing Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
- Investing in processing infrastructure
- Organising assured organic production in close collaboration with over 2,300 farmers (with a further 1,500 by June 2020)
- Bringing an innovative spirit to the development of new products
As well as providing a stable supply chain and specialty market access, Virunga is actively involved in a number of sustainabilty and social programs in farming communities. These incldue an extensive tree planting program, disease prevention outreach to tackle critical diseases such as Ebola and HIV, and equipment to help farmers improve their agronomic practices.
This particular lot is sourced form various small lot holders at altitudes ranging from 1450 - 1750 MASL utilizing the distinct Blue Mountain arabica generic heritage and is dry processed coffee.
Cupping Notes
This lot is loaded with strong flavors of dark chocolate and the tart and unmistakable flavor of dried blueberries with hints of blackberry as well as sweet component in the front of the flavor profile that is reminiscent of English toffee. I Also noted a rich floral sweetness of a dark honey lingering on the tongue at the end of the swig the way that a humming bird hovers at the edge of a flower and then darts away in the blink of an eye. This lot of coffee is perfect for espresso extraction roasted to the Full City minus or Full City roast depth. I bought this lot for the outstanding espresso shots I pulled when sampling this lot. After further experimentation, I found that the lighter roasts (City to Full City minus) make for wonderfully complex French Roast extractions and superb pour over extractions (using a gold plated reusable filter) with the dark chocolate notes somewhat muted by the more dilute preparation methods (drip more so than French Press). When I used a paper filter, I noted that the bold flavors I experience in the espresso/French Press extraction were muted and mellowed and the flavor shifting element I experienced earlier in the cooling cup was lost (probably form the oil extraction caused by using a parer filter). This is an outstanding lot of coffee and I think not my last from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The 144 Roastery is proud to offer our first ever lot from the Democratic Republic of Congo sourced through the Virunga Coffee Company which was established in 2011. The 144 Roastery is proud to partner with the Virunga Coffee Company. Virunga Coffee Companies vision statement is to “Change lives in DRC through commerce in a mutually profitable way by being a major coffee actor in Kivu.”
Virunga Coffee aims to achieve this vision by improving the quality and yields for farmers in North and South Kivu, primarily through:
- Developing and implementing field-based support activities
- Introducing Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
- Investing in processing infrastructure
- Organising assured organic production in close collaboration with over 2,300 farmers (with a further 1,500 by June 2020)
- Bringing an innovative spirit to the development of new products
As well as providing a stable supply chain and specialty market access, Virunga is actively involved in a number of sustainabilty and social programs in farming communities. These incldue an extensive tree planting program, disease prevention outreach to tackle critical diseases such as Ebola and HIV, and equipment to help farmers improve their agronomic practices.
This particular lot is sourced form various small lot holders at altitudes ranging from 1450 - 1750 MASL utilizing the distinct Blue Mountain arabica generic heritage and is dry processed coffee.
Cupping Notes
This lot is loaded with strong flavors of dark chocolate and the tart and unmistakable flavor of dried blueberries with hints of blackberry as well as sweet component in the front of the flavor profile that is reminiscent of English toffee. I Also noted a rich floral sweetness of a dark honey lingering on the tongue at the end of the swig the way that a humming bird hovers at the edge of a flower and then darts away in the blink of an eye. This lot of coffee is perfect for espresso extraction roasted to the Full City minus or Full City roast depth. I bought this lot for the outstanding espresso shots I pulled when sampling this lot. After further experimentation, I found that the lighter roasts (City to Full City minus) make for wonderfully complex French Roast extractions and superb pour over extractions (using a gold plated reusable filter) with the dark chocolate notes somewhat muted by the more dilute preparation methods (drip more so than French Press). When I used a paper filter, I noted that the bold flavors I experience in the espresso/French Press extraction were muted and mellowed and the flavor shifting element I experienced earlier in the cooling cup was lost (probably form the oil extraction caused by using a parer filter). This is an outstanding lot of coffee and I think not my last from the Democratic Republic of Congo.