Ethiopia Boledu Aricha

Producer Boledu Coffee
Farmer Smallholder Farmers
Washing Station Aricha Washing Station
District Yirgacheffe
Zone Gedeo

Shade Shade Grown
Farm Size 2 Hectares
Altitude 1,900-2,150m
Latitude 6.171530
Longitude 38.214568

Variety Kurume, Dega and Wolisho
Process Natural
Fermentation Dry
Drying 16-21 days on raised beds

Flavor Apricot Jam, Strawberry, Floral
Descriptors Velvety, Smooth, Bright

Harvest Year 2023/24

About this coffee Perched high on the eastern slopes of the Great Rift Valley is the Aricha Kebele, in the heart of the Gedeo Zone and Yirgacheffe Woreda. Surrounding the Aricha Kebele, where cool mists and light breezes rise from the valley below, is the Aricha Forest, a large natural coffee forest that is renowned for its outstanding shade grown coffees.

We have been lucky enough to work with Mebrahtu Aynalem directly, one of the founders of Boledu Industrial, who owns and operates the washing station in partnership with Abyote Ageze and local farmers. "We are the 2nd generation of coffee growers and now traders in our families. We decided to build a natural coffee processing site in Aricha to be used by the smallholders living in the region. Roughly 1500 growers use the facility, and we have 220 raised African beds for coffee drying," explains Meb.

The coffee is grown by local farmers as part of their subsistence farming practices within the Aricha forest. Once the cherries are picked and brought to the washing station, cherries are sorted, cleaned and moved to raised drying beds for 16-21 days where it is regularly rotated during the first two days of sun exposure. After drying, the cherries are hulled and the coffee is separated by bean size, resulting in an ultra-consistent coffee to share with you.