Ethiopia Jigesa - Natural

tastes like: vanilla, blueberry, jasmine nectar. Super Clean

COUNTRY: Ethiopia
TRADITIONAL COFFEE REGION: Sidama
POLITICAL REGION: Oromia
POLITICAL ZONE: Guji
WOREDA: Shakisso
KEBELE: Dambi Uddo
WASHING STATION: Jigesa
ELEVATION: 1,851m above sea level
VARIETY: Kurume & Wolisho
PROCESSING: Natural
FARMERS: 500 independent outgrowers
WASHING STATION OWNER: Faysel A. Yonis
IMPORTER: Melbourne Coffee Merchants
IMPORTER RELATIONSHIP LENGTH: Since 2019

Jigesa (pronounced “Jee-geh-sa”) is a privately-owned washing station that is located in the Shakisso woreda(administrative district) in Ethiopia’s Guji zone. It is named after the kebele (local village) of Jigesa. It was the first of 26 washing stations established by Testi Coffee, a family-owned company founded by Mr Faysel A. Yonis.

Sitting at 1,851m above sea level, Jigesa produces exceptional washed and natural processed lots. The washing station was established in 2014, and currently employs between 250-260 seasonal workers—around 200 of them are women who hand-sort parchment, while the remaining 50 work at the onsite dry mill. During harvest, freshly picked coffee cherry is delivered daily by some 500 independent outgrowers from the nearby kebele of Dambi Uddo and collection points in Wese and Suke.

The majority of the families that contribute to this lot farm organically on tiny plots of land, averaging just two to five 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 1,800–2,050m above sea level – and this, combined region’s cool temperatures (which range between 15-20°C) is ideal for the slow ripening of coffee cherries, leading to denser beans and a sweeter, more complex cup profile.

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.