Description
Reku processing station is located in the coveted Gedeb district, the southernmost district of Ethiopia’s famous Gedeo zone. Nearly all of Gedeb is known for its gifted processing climate and experienced growers. Gedeo as a whole is frequently referred to as “Yirgacheffe”, after the zone’s most famous central district. Gedeb, however, is a terroir, history, and community all its own that merits unique designation in our eyes. Coffees from this district, much closer to Guji zone than the rest of Gedeo, are often the most explosive cup profiles we see from anywhere in Ethiopia. The Gedeb district is a remote but impressively industrious area for coffee production. Half of its territory is planted with coffee. The city of Gedeb itself is a bustling outpost that links commerce between the Guji and Gedeo zone, with an expansive network of processing stations that buy cherry from across zone borders. The communities surrounding Gedeb reach some of the highest growing elevations for coffee in the world and are a truly enchanting part of the landscape.
Historically, the vast majority of coffee grown in this area was either processed and exported by the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU), consolidated under the wide-reaching Worka Cooperative, or sold anonymously through the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX). Now there are new channels because the Worka Cooperative has split into multiple smaller cooperatives and Ethiopia’s export rules have opened new opportunities to an increasing number of single farm owners and independent companies processing and exporting directly.
This particular processing station has hundreds of individual smallholders contributing cherries, each averaging about 3 hectares of coffee cultivation. Most of them also produce enset—a fruit-less relative of the banana tree whose pulp is scraped and packed into cakes, fermented underground, and then toasted as kocho, a staple starch in the area. The washed processed coffees are sorted by hand on arrival, then floated to remove less dense and damaged cherries. Next the sorted cherries are depulped, fermented and washed, and then taken to raised beds to fully dry, a process that takes about 18 days. Finished dried parchment is stored locally to rest and allow internal moisture to equilibrate, and then trucked to Addis Ababa to be dehulled and for additional sorting and preparation for export.
Tasting Notes: This Ethiopian is a bit more delicate, complex and floral than your average joe. Light & medium roasts are where this cup will shine. Decent brightness, stronger lemony/floral tone, some soft fruit accents, down the peach and grapefruit alley. Great aromatics, jasmine & lavender with a little spice note, I love grinding Ethiopians. The lighter tones pull some balance with spiced tea or chocolate undertone, traditional for a bean from the Yirgacheffe region. Medium roasts really mellow out the acidity and reduce the fruit tone, create a bit more body and a much more recognizable chocolaty factor. A very smooth, balanced and rich cup with exotic highlights. Darker roast burn out all the fruity and acidic notes, gets a little smoky roasty with strong bakers chocolate, unique aromatics but much more plain tasting cup.
Roasting Notes: Easy to roast and shines at the lighter roast points. Good to get a little past first crack but will dull in its tastes if you get it too dark or too close to 2nd crack. Even roasting with medium to low chaff. A longer setup time will promote a greater depth of flavor but will taste real good the next morning after roasting.
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