Local Storage seems to be disabled in your browser.
For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Local Storage in your browser.

Ethiopia West Arsi G1 Washed - Merdiya

Blackberry, strawberry, sweet lemonade, long finish
TOP LOT
Log in to view price
Bag Weight 60 KG BAG
Harvest Season 2023/24
Status Spot
Lot Number P611512-3
  • Out of Stock Bag(s)
Log In To Buy / Sample

About This Coffee

Merdiya washing station is operated by Testi Specialty Coffee and serves some 750 smallholder farmers located in Refisa, Nensebo district. This lot is a landrace Typica variety grown above 2000 masl. Testi is deeply involved in the communities surrounding their network of washing stations, with a particular focus on providing access to education for farmer's children.

Merdiya station uses slow fermentation with careful attention to detail, enhancing the traditional washed process of the region. After picking and sorting, coffees are depulped and fermented for 100 hours. Fresh water is cycled in every 24 hours and tank temperature maintained between 18.5 and 20.5 degrees centigrade. After washing, parchment is dried on raised beds under parabolic shade for 15 days.

Country of Origin Ethiopia
Region Uchuro village, Nensebo, West Arsi
Producer Type Washing Station
Wet Mill Merdiya Washing Station
Processing Washed
Processing Description Fermented 100hrs, dried on raised beds
Growing Altitude 2000m - 2200m
Harvest Season 2023/24
Bag Weight 60 KG BAG
Bag Type Grain Pro / Ecotact
Plant Species Arabica
Variety Landrace Typica

History of Coffee in Ethiopia 

Coffee is ancient in Ethiopia, but coffee farming is not. By the end of the 9th Century coffee was actively being cultivated in Ethiopia as food, but probably not as a beverage. It was the Arab world that developed brewing. Even as coffee became an export for Ethiopia in the late 1800’s, Ethiopian coffee was the result of gathering rather than agricultural practices. A hundred years ago, plantations, mostly in Harar, were still the exception, while “Kaffa” coffee from the southwest was still harvested wild. In 1935, William Ukers wrote: “Wild coffee is also known as Kaffa coffee, from one of the districts where it grows most abundantly in a state of nature. The trees grow in such profusion that the possible supply, at a minimum of labor in gathering, is practically unlimited. It is said that in south-western Abyssinia there are immense forests of it that have never been encroached upon except at the outskirts.” 

Growing Coffee in Ethiopia

As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia is home to more species of coffee plants than any place on earth, much of it still growing wild, and much of it still undiscovered. All Ethiopian coffee is Arabica and at least 150 varieties are commercially cultivated. Traditionally, these have simply been labelled as “heirloom varietals”; however, this is changing as the Jimma Agricultural Research Center works to identify species. Although there are a few estates in Ethiopia, 95% of coffee is grown by small land holders in a wide variety of environments, including “coffee forests” where coffee grows wild and is harvested by the local people. All specialty grade Ethiopian Coffee is grown above 4,000 feet and most above 6,000. In the highlands of Sidamo and Yirgacheffe, coffee can grow above 7,000 feet.

  • Region Uchuro village, Nensebo, West Arsi
  • Producer Type Washing Station
  • Wet Mill Merdiya Washing Station
  • Processing Washed
  • Processing Description Fermented 100hrs, dried on raised beds
  • Bag Type Grain Pro / Ecotact
  • Plant Species Arabica
  • Variety Landrace Typica
  • Min Growing Altitude 2000m
  • Max Growing Altitude 2200m
  • On Sale No
  • Top Lot Yes
  • Status Spot
  • Coffee Grade ETH CA WA GUJ G1
  • CTRM Contract Number P611512-3
  • Country of Origin Ethiopia
  • Warehouse The Annex CA