Oromo BIO

Description

This single-origin Ethiopian coffee is organically grown and offers a fruity, indulgent cup, with notes of orange, berries, cocoa beans, peach, brown sugar and cedar.

Its composition will vary throughout the year, but will always bear the Jimma designation (a specific region of Ethiopia, home to the forest of the same name). It will also always adhere to the ‘Forest Coffee’ standard: this means it is grown in an area containing more than 10 different tree species per hectare, creating at least three layers of shade.

Our Oromo coffee at a glance

Why the name ‘Oromo’? It refers to the people who live in the Oromia region, where Jimma is situated. The Oromo people are also found in Somalia and northern Kenya, and speak a macro-language also known as Oromo. 

• Origin: Ethiopia, Oromia region, Jimma area
• Designation: Jimma
• Woreda: Limmu Kossa
• Certification: Organic Farming
• Variety: 100% heirloom Arabica
• Current blend:
  • Producer: Mesfin Dabessa
  • Farm: Walensuu
  • Process: natural
  • Drying: 20 days on raised beds
  • Harvest: November to January, by hand
  • Altitude: 1,900–2,200 m
  • Farm area: 150 hectares

Mesfin Dabessa, producer of the moment

In the heart of the Jimma region, around 80 km north of the town, Mesfin Dabessa grows coffee on the family farm in Walensuu, which he inherited from his father. Situated at an altitude of between 1,900 and 2,200 metres, it covers 150 hectares and is just a few kilometres from Chalchessa, another farm managed by Mesfin.

A graduate in agriculture from the University of Harrar, Mesfin initially worked for several years in the Ethiopian civil service and then for NGOs before returning to his home region. His ambition is to continue his father’s work whilst helping to raise the profile of Jimma’s high-quality coffees. He has since expanded the family farm and now devotes himself primarily to processing and exporting Walensuu’s coffees.

The post-harvest processing plays a vital role in the quality of his coffee. The ripest coffee cherries are selected by hand and then dried whole in the sun for 20 days on raised beds. They are carefully covered every night and whenever it rains to control the drying process. This manual harvesting relies on meticulous skills that are becoming increasingly rare in the region.

Through Walensuu, Mesfin combines family heritage, agricultural expertise and a commitment to quality, with the aim of showcasing the potential of coffees from his native region.
 

Coffee cultivation in Ethiopia

Nicknamed “the roof of Africa”, Ethiopia is also the birthplace of coffee: it was in Kaffa, south-east of Addis Ababa (the country’s capital), that the first coffee trees are believed to have appeared. The tree is native to the region and went on to conquer the world during the colonial expeditions of European nations. Today, the country accounts for 9 per cent of global Arabica production and ranks fifth amongst coffee producers (Arabica and Robusta combined).

Complex and high-end, Ethiopian coffee is also, and above all, very difficult to define. In fact, it boasts the greatest genetic diversity of coffee trees on the planet! Generally speaking, however, these coffees are relatively acidic, with lovely fruity notes, and, above all, an excellent reputation. Yirgacheffe, Sidama and Kaffa are major centres of coffee cultivation. It is within the latter that the current Jimma region is located.