Ethiopia Guji Shakiso Gigesa Heirloom Washed
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Varietal: Heirloom Blend
Region: Danbi Kebele, Shakiso District, Guji
Altitude: 1850-2100m
About the Cup
This washed coffee has a lime blossom fragrance and a sweet, cocoa-like aroma. It features flavors of peach, black tea, white grape, and sugar cane, with a unique aftertaste of grapefruit and fresh hops. The coffee has a complex, delicate acidity reminiscent of lime and green grapes. Its light-medium body and tea-like mouthfeel give it a delicate character.
About the Gigesa Washing Station
Gigesa is a small town in Danbi Uddo Kebele, near Shakiso in Ethiopia's Guji Zone. The Gigesa washing station, named after the town, serves over 500 local coffee growers with 2-5 hectares of land each, all situated above 1800 meters. It holds NOP and EU Organic certification. Freshly picked cherries are brought to the Gigesa washing station, where they are immediately depulped and fermented for 36 to 48 hours, depending on the weather. The fermentation breaks down the mucilage, which is then washed away. The coffee is dried on raised beds for 10-12 days. Owned by the Yonis family, the station uses a quality control process that includes floating cherries in water to separate lower quality ones. Traditional disc pulpers are used, and the coffee ferments for at least 24 hours before drying on raised beds for 10-12 days.
About Heirloom Blends
Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and contributes 10% to the country's GDP. It has the most diverse coffee varieties, with over 100 confirmed and possibly 10,000 unique types. Farmers also use hybrid varieties developed by the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre (JARC), which are pest-resistant and higher yielding. In Ethiopia, it's rare to find single-varietal coffee lots; most coffees are blends graded by the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) and called 'Ethiopian Landrace' or 'heirloom varietals.'