This coffee was processed at a longtime independent processor site in the heart of the Yirgacheffe district. The cup quality of this area is historic to coffee, comprised mostly of indigenous landrace arabica variations, and known for rich berry-like and floral naturals. Yirgacheffe Kebele The Yirgacheffe (also spelled Yirga Chefe) district is in the heart of southern Ethiopia’s coveted Gedeo Zone. Gedeo is a narrow section of highland plateau dense with savvy farmers and fiercely competitive processors. The entire zone has been known commercially as Yirgacheffe for many years after the Yirgacheffe district itself, one of Ethiopia’s first areas to fully wash its coffee. As a coffee terroir, Yirgacheffe has for decades been considered a benchmark for beauty and complexity in arabica coffee—known for being beguilingly ornate and jasmine-like when fully washed, and seductively punchy and sweet when sundried--and hardly requires an introduction. Sukke Processing Station The Sukke processing station services local farmers with 1-2 hectares of land on average, which tends to be devoted to coffee, cabbage, and enset, a fruitless relative of the banana tree whose inner pulp is scraped, packed into large parcels and fermented underground, and then consumed sliced and toasted as a staple starch. The processing site first opened in 1997. During harvest time 200-250 employees are on site to manage intake, processing, financial operations and security of the station. Naturals at Sukke are received from farmers as freshly-picked cherry. On intake, cherry is sorted for defects and uniform ripeness, and then moved directly to raised beds to dry in the sun, where they are continuously raked to ensure even, slow drying. Drying cherry is covered with tarpaulins during the midday hours, when the sun at this elevation is searingly hot, as well as overnight, to protect cherries from settling humidity. Total drying time is 2-3 weeks, after which the finished pods are transported to Dili for hulling, and then Addis Ababa for final dry milling and export.
