Regional Highlight: Ethiopia

Don't all coffees from one region taste alike? No, not necessarily! Sometimes, coffees from one country can taste radically different – Ethiopia is a great example.

As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia has the longest tradition of coffee cultivation in the world. As coffee became domesticated, a wide selection of heirloom varieties survived to become what we now call ‘Ethiopian’ coffee. This is true for many coffee growing regions around the world, as well. Growers started with one or two coffees and other varieties were created through breeding. To this day most prized Ethiopian coffees are heirloom varietals. Also because of this history, no place in the world has such a tradition of natural process coffee as the county of Ethiopia.

We wrote about the differences in Natural process vs washed and honey process coffee previously and you can read about it in How is honey processed coffee different from washed or natural?

Even though technology and infrastructure improvements over the last few decades have made it easier to produce fine washed coffees in Ethiopia, natural process Ethiopia coffee is still highly desired by coffee lovers around the world. We feature a fantastic natural Ethiopian coffee that highlights this classic flavor profile.

Our Ethiopia Sidamo Natural Organic has great balance, and a rich almost syrupy texture with chocolate and strong berry sweetness. This single-farm, organic selection was good enough to be featured as a Royal Crown Jewel – the best-coffees designation for our primary importer. The immaculate preparation of this coffee shines through with a cleanliness not often found in natural coffees. 

In recent decades, more and more attention has been paid to preparation of the raw coffee beans. Modern equipment and more infrastructure has developed. As a result, Ethiopia has been increasingly recognized for its stellar washed coffees as well. Our Ethiopia Biftu Gudina is balanced and clean, with a juicy, black tea body and a great lemon acidity, and a more restrained sweetness than its natural counterpart. We source this coffee from Crop to Cup Coffee Importers a direct trade coffee importer, who strives to build meaningful connections between growers and consumers.

One reason Ethiopia has such a tradition of fine coffee is their long history producing a diverse range of heirloom coffee varieties all within the region.
Its distinct soils and varietals, combined with an increase in production and preparation techniques results in a diverse range of delicious, well-balanced coffees.

Try one of our fresh-roasted coffees from this historic coffee growing region. We recommend trying both Natural processed and Washed process beans so you can experience each beans' unique flavor profile for yourself!

Coffees featured in this post:

Ethiopia Sidamo Natural Organic Coffee

Ethiopia Biftu Gudina Washed Direct Trade Coffee