A single-farmer lot from Ethiopia is exceedingly rare since most Ethiopian coffee is brought to market through a cooperative of farmers. Yet our Dodora, grown by Desta Gola on his four-hectare farm in the celebrated Yirgacheffe region, is one of those rare coffees. As such, it provides a unique opportunity to taste a very specific regional terroir.
Lush, vibrant and balanced with a resonant finish, this distinguished microlot delivers high-toned floral notes, sweetly tart fruit and dark chocolate in both aroma and cup. Exceptional coffees such as this are produced from distinctive traditional Ethiopian varieties of Arabica native to the region. An incredibly expressive coffee, the Dodora offers peachy sweetness, melon and lemon in the cup.
With slightly more than 20,000 coffee trees in production since 2013, Desta Gola's coffee is processed as a separate microlot at the Adame Garbota Cooperative where Desta is a member. The Adame Garbota Cooperative, located in Gorbota within the Gedeo Zone of Ethiopia, was established in 2011.
The nation of Ethiopia is home to over 100 million people and agriculture accounts for the vast majority of the country's labor force. While large estates do exist, they are in the minority in terms of overall coffee production. Farmers cultivating relatively small plots of land together account for the majority of coffee grown in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Most of them count their trees rather than their acreage. And most farms are truly gardens where food for the family is frequently grown among a few cash crops to supplement income.
Unlike many areas of the world, however, coffee is both native to Ethiopia and a part of daily life. Considered a cash crop elsewhere, it is consumed in most Ethiopian homes during an elaborate ceremony that reflects the reverence villagers pay to coffee. In fact, Ethiopia is the world's only coffee producing country whose volume of consumption equals its export.
Grower: Desta Gola | Adame Garbota Cooperative
Variety: Indigenous heirloom varieties
Region: Gorbota microregion, Dodora kebele, Wonago woreda, Gedeo Zone, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region, Ethiopia
Harvest: October - December
Altitude: 1650 - 2700 masl
Soil: Vertisol
Process: Fully washed after pulping and fermenting, then soaked overnight and dried in the sun on raised beds.
