Ethiopia Ayla Bombe - Washed

Ethiopia
Sidama, Jigesa - Washed
tastes like honeydew, green apple, lemon blossom

COUNTRY: Ethiopia
TRADITIONAL COFFEE REGION: Sidama
POLITICAL REGION: Sidama
POLITICAL ZONE: Sidama
WOREDA: Bensa
KEBELE: Bombe
WASHING STATION: Ayla
ELEVATION: 1,950-2,050m above sea level
VARIETY: 74112, 74110 JARC varieties
PROCESSING: Washed
FARMERS: 725 independent outgrowers
WASHING STATION OWNER: Faysel A. Yonis
IMPORTER: Melbourne Coffee Merchants
IMPORTER RELATIONSHIP LENGTH: Since 2019

Ayla is a privately-owned washing station that is located in the Bensa woreda (administrative district) in Ethiopia’s Sidama zone. It is located in the kebele (local village) of Bombe. The washing station is one of 26 owned and managed by Testi Coffee, a family-owned company founded by Mr Faysel A. Yonis. The washing station is named Ayla after one of Mr. Faysel’s nieces.

Sitting at 1,950m above sea level, Ayla produces exceptional washed and natural processed lots using the nearby Bonora river as its main source of fresh water. During harvest, freshly picked coffee cherry is delivered daily by some 725 independent outgrowers. The majority of the families who contributed to this lot farm organically on tiny plots of land, which average under two hectares in size. Coffee is their main cash crop and grows alongside food crops of corn, grain and bananas, under the shade of native Birbira, Wanza, and Acacia trees. The average elevation of the farms in this region is very high – around 1,950–2,150m above sea level – and this, combined region’s cool temperatures, is ideal for the slow ripening of coffee cherries, leading to denser beans and a sweeter, more complex cup profile.

At Ayla, Testi separates and processes each kebele’s cherry delivery as a distinct lot, providing extra traceability. This particular coffee lot comes from the kebele of Bombe.

This coffee lot was produced as part of Testi’s quality improvement initiative, Premium Cherry Selection (PCS). Launched in 2018, the Premium Cherry Selection program ensures that best practices are used for growing, harvesting and processing the coffee cherry. Through the program, Testi pay a premium to farmers who pick and deliver only the ripest cherries from their farms. Coffees produced as part of the program represent the highest quality and cleanest cup profile available from the washing station and wider region. 

VARIETALS

This coffee is made up of JARC varieties 74110 and 74112.

For many years, most Ethiopian coffees have been described as being a mix of cultivated and wild varieties, referred to as “heirloom varieties.” This is a term that is all-encompassing and used by many actors in the coffee industry to generally categorise Ethiopian coffee varieties that are from native forest origins. Whilst this describes many of the varieties found in Ethiopia, it is also a bit simplistic and does not acknowledge the varieties that are already locally recognised and cultivated, or those that have been specifically developed and widely distributed by the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre (JARC).

Sidama is home to many landrace varieties that were originally selected from the forest and have been propagated successfully for decades. There are five popular varieties that are named after indigenous trees in the area— Bedessa, Kudhumi, Mique, Sawe and Wolisho. There is little documentation on the history of these varieties, and it is hard to know if they represent a single plant or a wider group of varieties; however, it is widely accepted that they play a major role in the quality and floral flavour profile of the coffee from this region. JARC varieties were developed using “mother trees” from Ethiopia’s coffee forests, and are now grown for disease and pest resistance, as well as exceptional cup profile, and are released by number. For example, 74110, 74112 and 74116 are all widely propagated in the Sidama growing region.