Ethiopia Gigesa Washed

About this coffee

Gigesa Washing Station is a privately-owned washing station that is located in the Danbi Uddo kebele or town in the Shakiso district of Guji Zone in Oromia region. Gigesa is one of twenty owned and managed by Testi Coffee, a family-owned company founded by Mr Faysel A. Yonis. This station was established in 2014. The land around Gigesa ranges from hilly to mountainous to flat. The Gigesa Washing Station produces roughly 15 containers each year.

500 member producers, owning farms 2-5 hectares in size at elevations between 1800 and 2100 meters above sea level, contribute cherries to Gigesa. The mill produces washed and natural coffees. Natural coffees are dried for 15-18 days on raised beds where they are turned regularly to expose the sun equally to all sides. There are two lagoons and areas planted with vetiver grass to treat wastewater from washed coffees. For both processes, cherries are both hand sorted for ripeness and passed through in a floatation tank to ensure uniformity and quality.

For this lot, at the washing station, cherries are preselected. They are then immersed in a water tank to remove floaters, unripe, overripe, and defective cherries. After removing the floaters, the cherries are pulped and undergo a wet fermentation process. This procedure involves a fermentation period of 48 hours, during which the old water is replaced with fresh, cold water every 24 hours. The fermentation took place at a very slow rate with an ambient temperature ranging from 20.5 to 21°C over the two days. After fermentation, the parchment is dried on African raised beds for 21 days.

This is the first of the two washed Ethiopian coffees that we will release this year thanks to the help of our friends at PlotCoffee. In the cup, you will find a classic washed Ethiopian profile in an accessible way, expect notes of black tea, lemongrass and nectarine sweetness and acidity.