Ethiopia - Tadessa Yonka

PLEASE NOTE - This limited coffee is sold in 100g bags

• Region - Arbegona Woreda, Gemecho kebele, Ethiopia
• Varietals - 74158
• Process - Anaerobic Fermentation
• Taste notes - Cream, Mango, Strawberry
• Roast Level - Medium

Tadessa Yonka lives in Gemecho village, in Bensa, on the farm he inherited from his father, and he has spent years turning it into much more than a family plot. He kept growing coffee while steadily improving how it was processed, then began buying cherries from his neighbours, and that grew into a washing station. These days he is well known across Gemecho for buying and processing high-quality coffee.

His station sits at 2,250 masl, and the altitude brings a practical problem along with the growing conditions, because consistent access to water is hard to find up there. In recent years Tadessa has secured enough of a supply to start producing anaerobic coffees, and this lot is one of the results. The cherries ferment for a full 96 hours, then dry for 30 days under shade nets. Once dry, the coffee was bagged and sent to Dukem Getachew's dry mill for milling.

The variety is 74158, a selection released by Ethiopia's Jimma Agricultural Research Center in 1979. It was taken from mother plants in Metu, in the Illubabor zone, and chosen for its high yield potential and resistance to coffee berry disease. It is now common among quality-focused farms in Bensa.