Description
An awesome single farmer top lot natural produced by Bedhatu Jibicho. Bedhatu was born and raised in Worka where her farm is also located. She started working in coffee in the 1960s when the government gave land to her husband. Bedhatu’s takes great pride in the fact that she has managed the farm operations for over 50 years, even before her husband passed away in 1991. As Bedhatu is now over 80 years old, her adult children have started to become more involved in continuing her rich tradition of coffee production. The family plans to use the premiums from coffee sales to expand production and start an export company.
This season Bedhatu and her neighbors have banded together, using the premiums they’ve received on their awesome coffee to establish a farmer-owned export company to sell their coffee independently and direct to consumer instead of through the government organizations that kill traceability to the farmer.
Bedhatu Jibicho is a native to the Worka region of Gedeb. At over 80 years old, she might be the most experienced farmer we work with, having co-managed (with her late husband) the 23-hectare plot of government-allotted farmland since the 1960s. Her family continues to work the farm, especially aided recently by her son Tesfaye Roba.
Originally part of the Worka cooperative, Mrs. Jibicho joined the Banko Gotiti cooperative when it opened in 2013 and that same year, her farm was recognized as a community model, and she took specialty coffee preparation training.
Tasting Notes: An awesome and unique cup of coffee. Very clean with some nice red fruit and floral tones upfront. A bit fuller bodied and slightly jammy with a very sweet start to the cup fading into very complex fruity and chocolaty tones with faint tea like attributes. Although red fruit is the predominate fruity factor, with a nice solid medium roast and a longer setup, one can see hints of that renowned tart “blueberry”. Lighter roasts will accentuate a bit of lemony acidity and floral tones, darker roasts get more bakers chocolate and spice.
Roasting Notes: A little tricky to get the darker fruit note but very easy to get a great cup of coffee out of these beans. A nice medium roast with a couple day setup would make any natural fan pretty happy. Too quick of a roast with not enough setup and the retains a bit more lemony red fruit (strawberry-ish) tones instead of berry, too dark or too long of a setup and the chocolaty factor pops right out and covers up a bit of the fruitiness. Shoot for a nice medium roast to start and adjust to preference.
Scott Fehr –
I roasted this bean to first crack. The result is a beautifully clean tasting cup of coffee, with no bitter after taste. I shared with friends that say they can not drink coffee straight. All have said they enjoyed the coffee and have changed their mind about drinking coffee with sweeteners or creams. I would definitely purchase again. Happy Roasting!
James Marker –
I just roasted a batch of this this morning and decided to try some right after it cooled. I normally allow a roast to degass for 4 hours and then sit for 6-7 days in an air tight container before brewing, but I couldn’t resist. It’s been awhile since I had some good EY. I roasted in my Gene Cafe with a 10 minute 361ºF drying cycle and then ramped up from 361ºF for 5.5 minutes to 456ºF, (about 30 seconds after first crack) then cooled. I brewed a double shot in my Profitec Pro 600 and sipped it straight from my shot glass and it was wonderfully smooth, with almost no acidity and a very prominent blueberry after taste. I do love EY and this is a great example IMHO. Glad I bought 10#!