And at last we cross the finish line, its been a tough 7 days. Why I hear you say ? Well a day trip to Ireland in the middle, you have to write each coffee up, work the roast profile, colate the photos for the site, and know your stuff. its not easy, but its been fun to do 7 in 7 days.

So the last one is a natural ethiopian from Sidamo, enjoy ……

Recent developments in Ethiopia have seen a centralisation of all coffee exports through the recently established Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX). It is now virtually impossible to provide accurate information of the precise traceability of coffees as lots are anonymised upon arrival at the Exchange. This makes it harder, but also easier. It means the cupping for quality is what counts, not names or any baggage.

Many thousands of bags marked ‘Sidamo’ are sold every year but there may be significant differences between them in in terms of cup quality. Selecting by cupping cuts the wheat from the chaff, and this one on the cupping table jumped off at us.

This coffee is hand picked, fully washed and is grown at around 1800-2000 metres altitude (on average). With some detective work we found out this coffee is from either Borena and/or Benssa region. It’s a Grade 3 which is the normal grading for the best of the Sidamo Naturals.

In the cup expect liqurice, and a little bit on aniseed, with a big big body and huge aftertaste, this is a great example of ethiopian natural processing

You can buy it here