Building Lasting Coffee Relationships in Ethiopia – We’ve been trying to do this for several years and it hasn’t been easy. Buying coffee from producers in Latin American countries often seems like child’s play compared to analogical adventures in some producing countries in Africa. The everchanging, complex export-import systems and the unspoken need for stable relationships with truly trustworthy people on the ground don’t make life easier for green coffee buyers who especially aim for long-term relationships based on trust and mutual growth. Yet, we did it! We have started relationships in The Motherland.
Firstly, a huge amount of thanks is due to two legends: Christopher Feran, who connected me with Moata Raya. Both trusted me enough so that in January 2024 I could set foot in Addis airport and begin a fascinating as well as humbling journey across Ethiopian landscapes.
Christopher is a roaster, green coffee buyer and an industry consultant with enormous farm-work knowledge and experience. His dedication to working with producers, connecting them with reliable buyers and supporting them with improvement of processing protocols is beyond appreciation. I highly recommend checking out some of the highest-value content within the industry on his blog here as well as following his roasting project Aviary.
Moata Raya is a role model for anything coffee related in Ethiopia. He’s an expert not only in farming, farm management and processing, but also an experienced QC professional, talent scout and support provider, who connects buyers and helps them start relationships with some of the most talented and skilled smallholder farmers across the country. His professional activities come together in his co-owned CoQua Lab company based in Addis.
2017 was a groundbreaking year for Building Lasting Coffee Relationships in Ethiopia . Since then, smallholder farmers who own a minimum of 2 hectares of land can independently export their own coffee. As a result, in recent years, we have observed an increase in offerings from importers or roasters featuring specific producers’ named and traced lots. And since in 88 Graines our actions have always been guided by a basic principle, that is, shortening the supply chain, and preferably buying directly from producers whenever it can be done, our match with Moata seemed to happen at the right place and time.
During my one-week trip, we managed to visit smallholders in the southern part of the country, leaving equally epic regions, such as Lima or Jimma, for the next visit. You surely know that spine-tingling feeling when, after many years, you finally visit all those legendary places. For me, it was setting foot in Yirgacheffe, Guji, and Sidama. Thanks to Moata, I connected with a group of farmers clustered around the villages of Kokose, Murago and Keramo, growing coffee at an impressive altitude of 2200 – 2350 masl (!). Working with Christopher and a New York-based importer Crop to Cup for a couple of seasons now, are overly open to experimentation or improved processing protocols. They planted specific varieties, such as 74158, 74110, wollega or wolishu local land races, which are characterized by insanely small and dense beans.
The quality thing, though… My mind was blown away during cupping sessions a couple of days later, in Co Qua lab, back in Addis. These are undoubtedly one of the tastiest, most complex and vibrant coffees I’ve cupped from Ethiopia. Ever. I’ve initially picked all available Sidama smallholders’ coffees and added some beautiful lots from Yirgacheffe’s Worka Sakaro and Chelbesa, along with a beautiful, high-altitude Gr. 2 lot from Gemechu Shenora in Guji and two bigger lots from Western Ethiopia, Jimma. But anyway, I was somehow prepared for it…
Traditional coffee preparation is a big thing in Ethiopia. And when you visit this stunning country for the first time, with all your Western habits and conventions, SCA brewing standards learned by heart and your mind calibrated to all that high-end coffee equipment, prepare for another shock. That super fresh coffee which stayed on the African bed until two weeks ago, hand-roasted in a pan over an open flame, then ground on a dozens-years-old machine, drenched with boiling water in a clay pot, steeped for much longer than your pampered frames would like… tastes MUCH better than majority of meticulously prepared, TDS-checked brews in a typical third-wave cafe back in Europe. Insanely bright, complex, sweet, floral and fruity. You might mistake it for passionfruit juice. That kind of coffee was served to me by Bekele Kechara during a farm visit at his remarkable, hyper-high-altitude growing area in Murago. How?! Well, it’s Ethiopia. I don’t even know if I want to acutely understand it, let’s leave some tiny parts of life to be magic and that’s it.
A couple of months later, in the middle of July, the results of the Ethiopian Cup of Excellence reached me, where two producers from Sidama region, Mate Matiwos and Bekele Yutue won, consecutively, 2nd and 4th places! Speechless.
We’re indescribably grateful and excited for this opportunity, looking forward to bringing our very first Ethiopian shipment to Europe this year. And even more thrilled for building and creating Building Lasting Coffee Relationships in Ethiopia for many years to come.
The story has been brough to you by Piotr Jezewski (88 Graines Q Grader & Sourcing Director)
