The coffees in Agaro were discovered as something truly unique in
flavour. Before this cooperative was established through the
organization Technoserve, they were mainly producing lower-graded
naturals sold as Jimma Grade 5. After starting to process these lots as
pure washed coffees and implementing some changes in the selection of
the beans, the complexity of the flavour range started to emerge. These
coffees can have a general flavour profile towards black tea, coffee
flower aromas and citrus, and they tend to be complex and delicate.
Biftu Gudina Cooperative
Bersema Farmers
Producers: About 572 smallholder Cooperative members. Buying
cherries from non members as well. Membership is optional. Non members
don’t qualify for second payment.
On average farmers are having a farm size of less than 3 hectares.
Most coffees are organic by default. Organic compost is common, pruning
less common. A farmer can typically have less than 1500 trees pr hectar,
and 1 tree is typically producing cherries equal to less than 100 - 200
grams of green coffee.
Varietals: Mainly an improved native varietal called 1274, but also a
mix of Ethiopian Heirloom. Such as native coffee of forest origin
transferred to family smallholder plots.
Production: Pulped and mechanically demucilaged with a Penagos 2500
eco-pulper or a JM Estrada eco pulper before soaked in water over night
in water and sundried on raised beds.
Soil: Clay loam
Biftu Gudina is something special to us at Nordic. The cooperative
was established through an NGO called Technoserve, which has been
supporting farmers in setting up washing stations and new cooperative
structures. We visited their first site in 2012 when it was still under
construction, and even then promised to commit to buying those coffees.
Nowadays, they have two washing stations and more than 600 members. From
the beginning, they used eco pulpers and did water treatment,
established farmer training programs and traceability systems.
We discovered Biftu Gudina and a few other cooperative washing stations, like Nano Chala and Duromina during the same year.
About the farms
The coffee at Biftu Gudina is delivered from smallholders in the
Bersema area. They are located in Agaro, close to Jimma in the west of
Ethiopia, lately known for very flavor intense and spicy coffees with
pretty different flavor attributes.
The farmers they work with at Biftu Gudina have farms that are
smaller than 3ha on average and the coffees are produced at very high
altitudes, generally around 2000 masl. They are using Penagos
ecopulpers, and hardly ferment the coffees at all. After pulping the
coffees are often soaked under clean water overnight before they are
dried on raised tables. They have wastewater treatment based on Vetiver
grass naturally filtrating the water from the production before it goes
into the pits and finally the ground.
Before these cooperative was established, farmers were mainly producing lower graded naturals sold as Jimma Grade 5.
Post harvest
Cherry picking
The family members of the smallholder farmers are picking small
amounts of coffee that they will sell and deliver to the washing
station. In many cases and if needed they are sorting cherries before
delivery.
The farmers will get paid in full based on the currant cherry prices
in the area that day. The Cooperatives will pay the members a dividend
as a second payment when the coffee is sold at a premium.
Pulping and pre grading
A Penagos Eco Pulper removes the skin, pulp and mucilage. With this
machine they don’t need to ferment the coffee to remove the mucilage.
After the mucilage is mechanically removed it is soaked in clean water
in concrete tanks for about 3- 10 hours.
Fermentation
There is hardly any fermentation, but the coffees can be undergoing a
little fermentation in the soak as well as it’s often a little mucilage
left, as for a white or yellow honey that can create some fermentation
at the drying table.
Drying and handsorting
Skin dried and sorted under shade for about 6 hours after soaking.
After skin drying it is moved out in the sun and dried about 10 days on
African drying beds on shade nets or hessian cloths. Coffees are covered
in plastic or shade nets during midday and at night.
