Description
Idido is one of Ethiopia’s best-known cooperatives. It’s centrally located among Yirgacheffe producers, being just a few kilometers outside the town of Yirga Chefe itself—a surprisingly small community given its mythical stature as one of the world’s most gifted coffee landscapes. Furthermore, Idido was one of the coops promoted through various “Misty Valley” campaigns that placed some of Ethiopia’s first specialty naturals into the spotlight.
Without question Idido’s notoriety is thanks to its consistently incredible expression of the central Gedeo Zone terroir. Idido is north of the town of Yirga Chefe, in the heart of the coveted Gedeo Zone—the narrow section of highland plateau dense with savvy farmers and fiercely competitive processors whose coffee is known the world over as “Yirgacheffe”. The Gedeo region is named after the Gedeo people who are indigenous to this area. As a coffee terroir, Yirgacheffe has for decades been considered a benchmark for beauty and complexity in arabica coffee—known for being beguilingly ornate and jasmine-like when fully washed, and seductively punchy and sweet when sundried–and hardly requires an introduction among coffee roasters, many of whom would count Yirgacheffe as one of the terroirs that led them into their profession.
To many of us, Idido epitomizes Yirgacheffe’s brisk and floral profile. Like many of its peers Idido was originally formed in the 1970s and joined the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU) in the early 2000s, achieving Organic and Fair Trade certifications at the same time. Idido’s 1044 members collectively farm 1862 hectares of land, about half of which is coffee, for most the only cash crop grown. Washed coffees are fermented underwater with regular water replenishments, and then sundried on raised beds. During drying the parchment coffee is often covered during the midday sun, which at this altitude is often searingly hot during harvest and can crack the brittle parchment if exposed for even an hour too long.
Tasting Notes: A tasty brighter, more floral Ethiopian offering best presented at the lighter roast points. Full of lemon and soft fruit tones balancing with hints of tea like spice notes. A very clean cup allowing one to roast pretty light without much risk of grassy, muddy or nutty tones, a true sign of quality. Medium roasts bring a little reduction to the acidity but doesn’t cover it up completely in the cup, a bit more of the chocolaty tea like spice which many Ethiopian fans love. Dark roasts are tasty but much less exotic, bakers chocolate, smoky with slight tea like accents.
Roasting Notes: We recommend lighter roasting with these beans. A little development past first crack presents it nicely. If the brighter notes are too much, wait a couple days, setup helps mellow out the cup a bunch. Just as the beans get a slight sheen will mark a medium roast. If not an acidity fan but still want something exotic, slow down the roast a bit and go as close to 2nd crack but try not to hit it to keep the smoothness of the cup. Low to medium chaff and even roasting.
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