IS1 - Ethiopia - Gogogu Bekaka

ETHIOPIA - GUJI

Flavor notes: Berry, Grape, Cocoa

Zone: Guji

Woreda: Uraga

Washing station: Gogogu Bekaka

Elevation: 2000 - 2280 MASL

Variety: Ethiopia Landraces (Kurume, Wolisco)

Process: Washed mechanically through delvas and then soaked for 60 hours

Drying: Raised beds

Excerpt from Red Fox Coffee Importers:

From deep in the forests of Guji comes Gogogu wet mill, bringing with it incredibly
ripe blackberry, blazing acidity, and classic Ethiopian florals like bergamot and jasmine.

Believe it or not, the stellar coffees within this high (the highest in all of Ethiopia at 2310 masl), densely forested region in the Uraga woreda were once trucked across the border to Yirgacheffe and sold there as Yirgacheffe coffees because no one had yet recognized their distinct character.

Now coffees within Guji Uraga deserve their own differentiation. In the southernmost forest of the Uraga region lies the Ugo Begne forest and Wate Gogogu community, where the Gogogu washing station produces a truly singular coffee. The wet mill is located on a plain surrounded by smallholder farms that supply cherry to the mill.

Managed by lifelong coffee trader Kedir Jebril (brother of Larcho Torka producer Abdi Jebril and Yabitu Koba producer Feku), Gogugu’s coffee goes through a meticulous process: he leaves freshly peeled seeds underwater for 60 hours compared to the average washing station’s 48. Coffees are then washed vigorously in elongated channels while also being selected for quality. The less dense Grade 2 quality beans are sifted off the top of the channel and taken to their own drying stations. The denser Grade 1 coffees eventually make it to a soaking tank where they’ll sit overnight removing any excess mucilage from the seed before they’re sent to the drying beds. Kedir keeps his parchment coffee covered in mesh for the first 5-6 days in order to avoid cracking and direct exposure to sunlight which can damage the integrity of the beans. After this first drying period the coffee is then opened to sunlight and left to dry for another 5-6 days before being conditioned in the storage warehouse for upwards of a month.

Read more about this coffee and Kedir Jebril Imamu here.