{"product_id":"ethiopia-refisa-west-arsi-washed","title":"Ethiopia-Testi-Refisa West Arsi Washed","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWashing Station: Refisa\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Testi West Arsi Washing Station was established in 2010 and serves about 850\u003cbr\u003esmallholder producers in the area. The farmers deliver their cherry to the washing\u003cbr\u003estation, where it is depulped, fermented for 24–48 hours, and washed before being\u003cbr\u003edried on raised beds for 12–15 days.Coffees in Ethiopia are typically grown on very\u003cbr\u003esmall plots of land by farmers who also grow other crops. The majority of\u003cbr\u003esmallholders will deliver their coffee in cherry to a nearby washing station or central\u003cbr\u003eprocessing unit, where their coffee will be sorted, weighed, and paid for or given a\u003cbr\u003ereceipt. Coffee is then processed, usually washed or natural, by the washing station\u003cbr\u003eand dried on raised beds.The washing stations serve as many as several hundred to\u003cbr\u003esometimes a thousand or more producers, who deliver cherry throughout the\u003cbr\u003eharvest season: The blending of these cherries into day lots makes it virtually\u003cbr\u003eimpossible under normal circumstances to know precisely whose coffee winds up\u003cbr\u003ein which bags on what day, making traceability to the producer difficult. We do,\u003cbr\u003ehowever, make every available effort to source coffee from the same washing stations every year, through our export partners and their connections with mills\u003cbr\u003eand washing stations.Typically farmers in this region don't have access to and\u003cbr\u003etherefore do not utilize fertilizers or pesticides in the production of coffee.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProcess: Washed\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe process of producing Washed coffees in Ethiopia will vary slightly from washing station to washing station, but generally\u003cbr\u003espeaking the coffee is picked ripe and depulped the same day. There is usually a fermentation period of 8–12 hours in open-air\u003cbr\u003etanks, then washed in water channels to remove the mucilage. The coffee seeds will be spread on raised beds to dry for 5–15\u003cbr\u003edays, depending on the weather.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVariety: Heirloom Ethiopian Varieties\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough this offering is not traceable to a single variety, it is comprised of native heirloom varieties cultivated in Ethiopia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg\u003e\u003cimg\u003e\u003cimg\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion: West Arsi\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWest Arsi is a high-elevation area near the center of Ethiopia experiencing subtropical climates. The washing stations\u003cbr\u003ethroughout West Arsi service hundreds of smallholder producers. The mixture of dark and red soil creates coffees that are very\u003cbr\u003eclean and elegant in profile.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCountry: Ethiopia\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eAmong coffee-producing countries, Ethiopia holds near-legendary status not only because it’s the “birthplace” of Arabica\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ecoffee, but also because it is simply unlike every other place in the coffee world. Unlike the vast majority of coffee-growing\u003cbr\u003ecountries, the plant was not introduced as a cash crop through colonization. Instead, growing, processing, and drinking coffee\u003cbr\u003eis part of the everyday way of life, and has been for centuries since the trees were discovered growing wild in forests and\u003cbr\u003eeventually cultivated for household use and commercial sale.The majority of Ethiopia’s farmers are smallholders and\u003cbr\u003esustenance farmers, with less than 1 hectare of land apiece. In many cases, it is almost more accurate to describe these farms\u003cbr\u003eas “coffee gardens” as the trees do sometimes grow in more of a garden or forest environment than what we imagine fields of\u003cbr\u003efarmland to look like. There are some large privately owned estates, as well as co-operative societies comprising a mix of\u003cbr\u003esmall and more mid-size farms, but the average producer here grows relatively very little for commercial sale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"R Ki Coffee Lab","offers":[{"title":"200g","offer_id":47961348735134,"sku":null,"price":22.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0433\/5252\/2910\/files\/RefisaW.jpg?v=1783725299","url":"https:\/\/www.rkicoffeelab.com\/products\/ethiopia-refisa-west-arsi-washed","provider":"R Ki Coffee Lab ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}