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Coffee importers and beanhunters come in all shapes and sizes. We were particularly happy to hear our partners (and partners in life) Emily and Mike McIntyre at Catalyst Coffee Consulting of Portland were off to Ethiopia for a six-month journey of exploration. They came back recently with tons of great stories and coffees which we are happy to have and share. Ethiopia, from whence ALL java 1500 years ago, is currently undergoing sea changes in the way it produces and markets coffee, most notably allowing once again direct trade and sanctioning single farm production/export.
The McIntyres hit paydirt in the Harar region, where they worked closely with members of the Tiret Coffee Producers Cooperative Association (TCPCA). Harar coffees,almost always natural (dry) processed owing to the scarcity of water in the region, have long been prized…in their best iterations..for topnotes of blueberry and florals. We are enthusiastically roasting the offering of Abebeyahu Negash, one of the 23 farmers in the TPCPA, which was formed in 2014. The farm is…quite a mouthful of specificity here…in the Oromia Region, Arsi Zone, Gololcha District, Chancho Village, and processed at the Samson Girma dry mill. Farms elevations range from 1850-2100 meters and comprise indigenous heirloom varietals. Just delicious! Mike's (he's a certified Q grader) table cupping notes say “candied fruit, caramel truffle, maple”. Our roast is on the light side to do justice to these observations, and it's also nicely bodied and chocolatey. A great drip/pourover coffee not to be missed.
Stay tuned in August for the arrival of two other Catalyst coffees we committed to early after cupping them together here in Portland…Semalo Pride (mill) Yirgacheffe Gelana Abaya washed and natural process…stellar!
