- An annual competition by the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA), promoting high-quality African coffees.
- Involves national contests, leading to a regional event where winners (Washed, Natural, Honey, Robusta) are showcased.
- Location: Duwancho Washing Station, Arbegona District, Sidama Zone, Ethiopia.
- Variety: JARC 74158.
- Processing: Famous for its distinctive Red Honey process.
- Flavor Profile: Known for floral aromas, sweet notes, and hints of lychee, peach, and grapefruit.
- Awards: Featured as a winning lot, particularly in the Honey category for the 2024/2025 season, noted for its complexity and rarity in Ethiopian coffee.
- TOH provides a platform for producers, connecting them with international buyers.
- Duwancho's success highlights unique Ethiopian processing methods, adding diversity to the market.
Farm: Duwancho
This lot comes from us from the Duwancho washing station in Sidama.Coffee is
soaked for two hours here before being placed on raised beds. They believe this
extended soaking time adds a level of sweetness they hadn't experienced prior to
instituting it.During drying, they specifically told us that they try to keep the
thickness of cherries as thin as possible to ensure consistency. They place the beds
in areas of good airflow and dry slow for up to 30 days.
Variety: Heirloom Ethiopian Varieties Grade 1 - Duwancho
Although this offering is not traceable to a single variety, it is comprised of native heirloom varieties cultivated in Ethiopia
Region: Sidama Grade 1 - Duwancho
The Sidama region is known for producing the most coffee at the highest grades in Ethiopia, and the geography explains why
this is. This region spreads across fertile highlands, where half of the land is cultivated. The surrounding rivers and lakes along
with the very high elevation results in cool weather and fertile soil. These factors, in combination with over 100 inches of rainfall
per year, cause the coffee to ripen slower than in any other region in Ethiopia. There are over 50 cooperatives and 200 washing
stations throughout Sidama.
Country: Ethiopia Grade 1 - Duwancho
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.