Farm: Gogogu
This coffee comes from the Gogogu washing station in the Kofee district of Guji,
Ethiopia. This washing station produces both washed and natural coffees in the
traditional Ethiopian way of processing ripe cherries. Over 700 farmers deliver
cherry here from roughly 5km in each direction from the mill. Average farm size is
roughly 2 hectares and coffee is the main source of income in this region. Average
rainfall here is 1600-200mm and they typically are picking coffee from mid-
December through the end of February. Coffees in Ethiopia are typically grown on
very small plots of land by farmers who also grow other crops. The majority of
smallholders will deliver their coffee in cherry to a nearby washing station or central
processing unit, where their coffee will be sorted, weighed, and paid for or given a
receipt. Coffee is then processed, usually washed or natural, by the washing station
and dried on raised beds.The washing stations serve as many as several hundred to
sometimes a thousand or more producers, who deliver cherry throughout the
harvest season: The blending of these cherries into day lots makes it virtually impossible under normal circumstances to know precisely whose coffee winds up
in which bags on what day, making traceability to the producer difficult. We do,
however, make every available effort to source coffee from the same washing
stations every year, through our export partners and their connections with mills
and washing stations.Typically farmers in this region don't have access to and
therefore do not utilize fertilizers or pesticides in the production of coffee.
Process: Natural Grade 1 - Gogogu
Natural coffees are typically delivered the day they are harvested, and are first sorted for ripeness and quality before being
rinsed clean of dirt. Then they are spread on raised drying beds or tables, where they will be rotated constantly throughout the
course of drying. Drying can take an average of 8–25 days, depending on the weather.
Variety: Heirloom Ethiopian Varieties Grade 1 - Gogogu
Although this offering is not traceable to a single variety, it is comprised of native heirloom varieties cultivated in Ethiopia.
Region: Guji Grade 1 - Gogogu
Guji is a beautifully forested area in southern Ethiopia. Before the early 2000's, this region was considered part of Sidama, but
has since become its own region. The people of Guji grow coffee gardens at very high altitudes in the rich red soil of the
highlands, setting this coffee's profile apart from neighboring regions. These smallholders deliver their coffee to washing
stations to be sorted and processed together, developing flavors of fruits, deep chocolate, and light florals.
Country: Ethiopia Grade 1 - Gogogu
Among coffee-producing countries, Ethiopia holds near-legendary status not only because it’s the “birthplace” of Arabica
coffee, but also because it is simply unlike every other place in the coffee world. Unlike the vast majority of coffee-growing
countries, the plant was not introduced as a cash crop through colonization. Instead, growing, processing, and drinking coffee
is part of the everyday way of life, and has been for centuries since the trees were discovered growing wild in forests and
eventually cultivated for household use and commercial sale.The majority of Ethiopia’s farmers are smallholders and
sustenance farmers, with less than 1 hectare of land apiece. In many cases, it is almost more accurate to describe these farms
as “coffee gardens” as the trees do sometimes grow in more of a garden or forest environment than what we imagine fields of
farmland to look like. There are some large privately owned estates, as well as co-operative societies comprising a mix of
small and more mid-size farms, but the average producer here grows relatively very little for commercial sale.