Ethiopian Beloya Fully Washed
Ethiopian Beloya Washing Station
As a nod to great coffees of the past, we bought some coffees from the Ethiopian Beloya Washing Station. Sadly, the natural wasn’t quite up to the mark on arrival. Without filling this space with my opinions (as if!), this may be a measure of how good the washed coffee is.
We have more Ethiopian coffees than ever before this year, some from small producers with export licenses. We also have the old favourites like Suke Quto. The range is wild, and I cannot wait to share it.
Top Trumps
Washing Station: Beloya
Area: Kochere District
Varietal: Dega, Kudhume, Wolisho
Process: Fully Washed
Altitude: 1699-1719masl
Roast: Filter
Filter Profile
|Aromatics:Herbal, Floral, Citric |Body: Light-Medium | Acidity:Sweet & Citric |
On opening, Beloya washed is unusually complete. Soft citrus curd, like sweetness, herbal depth and a long, pronounced lingering finish. Deep, sweet citrus dominates, with a rounded sweet acidity. On cooling, there is a little more body with the sugars becoming more complex and subtle florals emerge. We found white sugars, lingering citrus, blackcurrant and black tea. You will probably find more if you look hard enough!
Filter Recipe: 55-60g per litre.
Farm info:
Beloya washing station is located in the Kochere district, Gedeo Zone. The Washing station has two processing units to enable the timely processing of the cherries as they are delivered. Smallholder farmers in the hills surrounding the washing station will bring their cherries here to be processed, cupped, and sold. The washing station itself has been running for over 20 years.
The coffee from here is grown at high altitudes in iron-rich soils with a spread of genetic diversity provided by the heirloom varietals. The coffee farmers use traditional pest control methods that have been in use for many years, and so organic production is commonly found.
Fresh red cherries, handpicked daily, are delivered to the washing stations for sorting before pulping. Coffees are pulped and allowed to ferment for 36-48 hours. The fermented coffee is washed with clean running water, soaked in clean water and then dried for 18 days to retain about 11.5% of moisture. Dried parchment coffee is stored in a field warehouse until it is transported for further processing to Addis Ababa. The parchment coffee is processed in a dry processing warehouse to remove the husks, and the clean beans are packaged in labelled bags for export.
Let us know how you’re brewing here
