Cape Town

Tasting Like: Passionfruit Cocktail, Mangosteen, Coconut Cream, Mango

Farm: Kayon Mt.
Producer: Ato Esmael
Variety: Heirloom
Process: Natural
Origin: Guji, Ethiopia
Altitude: 2100masl

Ethiopian season is one of our industry's most anticipated moments with the arrival of roaster's preorders. Ethiopia stands as the entry point of the specialty coffee rabbit-hole for so many industry members - us included. Further, this is the first year we've been presented with the opportunity to bring on fresh crop from Guji and Sidama(coming soon). We're stoked to have finally been able to roast this coffee as we've been looking forward to its tropic-laden character since we first ordered it a while back. There's something deeply satisfying about finally getting your hands on a coffee you've discovered, cupped and finally been able to roast. This is especially true when it's from a producer like Ato Esmael, Daya Bensa or Tamiru Tadesse whose reputations precede them. This particular lot showcases everything we love about Ethiopian naturals with an explosive tropical fruit character balanced into a natural floral complexity that can make Ethiopian coffees so distinctive. It's exactly the kind of coffee that reminds you why Ethiopia converted so many of us into specialty coffee enthusiasts in the first place.

While Ato Esmael isnt as known in America as his colleagues, his story is equally as interesting. Ato established Kayon Mountain Coffee Farm in 2012 with a clear mission: producing exceptional quality coffee through socially and environmentally responsible methods. What makes Ato's operation particularly interesting is its scale and traceability It's huge coming in at 500+ hectares with 300+ dedicated to coffee production alone. Kayon Mountain represents a rare large scale commercial success in Ethiopia's predominantly smallholder coffee landscape. The farm bridges two villages, Taro and Sewana, and provides employment for over 300 full-time and seasonal workers while offering competitive wages, free transportation, and community support including funding for their schooling and administrative buildings. A pretty amazing story that makes this coffee so much sweeter.
The natural processing on Cape Town is meticulous: only perfectly ripe cherries are hand-picked by Ato's team and are carefully sorted by hand before being spread on raised beds to dry for fourteen to eighteen days solar drying. Throughout this process, the coffee is constantly rotated to ensure even drying, developing those concentrated tropical fruit flavors we're experiencing in our cups. The heirloom varieties grown here benefit from Guji's unique terroir - rich red volcanic soils, high altitude, and the protection of primary forest canopy that the local Guji tribe has fought to preserve for generations upon generations. Let's focus on that a little bit more:

Context on Guji:
The Guji zone represents one of Ethiopia's most remote and pristine coffee-growing regions, a heavily forested area in the southeastern corner of the massive Oromia region where coffee plants flourish both wild and cultivated. Where Guji shines is its environmental protection - the indigenous Guji people, part of Ethiopia's diverse Oromo nation, have organized for generations to reduce mining and logging operations, preserving the sacred forest canopy that creates ideal microclimates for coffee cultivation. Farms here are exclusively high above sea level, typically beginning at 2000 meters elevation and even climb higher - thus creating conditions where slow cherry maturation develops exceptional Panama levels of complexity. The region's relative isolation means that many areas feel almost prehistoric in their natural purity, seriously google it, but this remoteness also contributes to the distinctive terroir that produces some of Ethiopia's most sought-after coffees. Kayon Mountain's success demonstrates what's possible when innovative farming meets respect for traditional land stewardship. What an honor we have to partake as consumers, and an industry, to such rich history. 

Recommended Music to accompany brewing: So Be It - Clipse
Includes QR code to applicable Tasting Guide™