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Altitude above sea level is one of the most influential factors in coffee production and attributes.
Higher altitudes typically yield high-quality coffee with complex flavors, and countries such as El Salvador and Honduras grade their coffee based on their elevation.
Among the most prized attributes are floral, fruity, high acidity, stone fruits, and spiciness associated with coffees grown at elevations from 1500 meters like coffees from Ethiopia, and Colombia
For hundreds of years, Ethiopia has provided some of the world's best reviewed single origin premium coffee beans. In general, Ethiopian coffees are best known for their complexity with a pungent, winey quality and a distinct wildness in their acidity
1,500 – 2,200 meters above sea level
November – February
Arabica, native heirloom varieties
Yirgacheffe
Sidamo
Harrar Bebeka
Teppi
Limu
Djimma
Illubabor
There's no Best Ethiopian Coffee, with preferences varying depending on personal tastes.
Out of all the Ethiopian coffee growing regions, there are three top coffee-producing regions in Ethiopia,with each coffee-growing region producing a truly distinct coffee.
>
Yirgacheffe
> Sidamo
> Harrar
Lekempti
Wellega
GimbiOther less common regions include: Guji, Amaro, Kaffa, Borena, Arsi, Bale
Harrar
The eastern region of Ethiopia, best known for its dry processed (unwashed; natural) coffees, produces the Harrars with their fruity or winey tones, complex blueberry notes, bright (sometimes brilliant) acidity, and with a medium to heavy body that has a dry edge to it. Harrar coffees are a distinctive wild-varietal specific to the region, and are hand processed by locals.
In Ethiopia, coffee is an important part of the culture, and a respected daily event is the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony. Most historians agree that coffee originated in Ethiopia, though there is some debate over the issue.Ethiopia is where the frequently told story originates, of a goat breeder who noticed strange behaviour in his flock of goats after they ate berries from a certain tree.Taking the berries to a monastery, monks brewed him a tea from it and coffee was developed and refined from the resulting brew, spreading across the region and eventually the world.Also see the World's Best History of Coffee.
The Ethiopian Coffee Exchange (ECX) was set up in 2008 to smooth out pricing and help protect the farmers from volatility in the market, which could affect their livelihood.It turns coffee production into a more stable commodity, providing warehousing, trading, trading and payment to allow for more consistency, but as a draw-back, doesn't allow for premiums for better crops (all crops are averaged together for consistency).
Farmers deliver their cherries to a local wet mills
Wet mills deliver unroasted green coffee (parchment coffee) to warehouses, and graded by region plus physical qualities (defects, size) and cupping quality
Warehouses sell and deliver coffee to exporters and brokers within Ethiopia, who arrange delivery to wholesalers in other countries
Green coffee importers work with the distributors and co-ops in Ethiopia to import coffees into the United States and Canada. From there, it gets broken into smaller lots and sold in bulk quantities to roasters who sell to the public and retail and grocery stores.
The high elevation of Ethiopia (1,500+ meters) qualify all Ethiopian green coffees as Strictly High Grown (SHG) / Strictly Hard Bean (SHB). Coffees that are SHG grow slower because of the altitude, resulting in more nutrients being delivered to the coffee beans and making them denser and more flavorful.
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