Agaro Gera

Notes: White Peach | Chamomile | Candied Peach

Region: Djimma, Ethiopia

Elevation: 1850 MASL

Varietals: Ethiopia Landraces 

Process: Washed

Roast: Light - Medium

The Coffee: 

This is a must experience bean that shows the beauty of Ethiopian coffee. We get a stunning combo of white peach sweetness, floral notes that remind us of chamomile, and warm nuttiness of candied pecans. We love this in pour over and immersion brewers!

The Producer: 

The Djimma area is one of the largest coffee producing regions in Ethiopia. The people who live here belong to one of the country's oldest and most populous ethnic groups, the Oromo, and speak dialects of Oromifa. The Agaro Gera lot comes from this region, specifically from the Gera district. To reach the washing station in Gera, we first fly to Addis Ababa, then take a 40 minute local flight to Djimma, followed by a four hour drive by road. Producers live close to the washing station, making transport relatively easy. It takes them no more than 20 minutes to reach it. Approaching the station, paved roads give way to dirt roads. Most farms have access to these dirt paths, so during the harvest season, producers use motorcycles, horses, or donkeys to carry bags of coffee cherries to the nearest collection centers. From there, trucks transport the cherries to the central washing station. Farmers in the region intercrop coffee with native shade trees such as banana, which help fertilize the soil. Since producers deliver their coffee in cherry form, the collection centers prepare organic compost from this waste, store it, and distribute it to the producers. At the central washing station, the coffee is fermented for 48 to 72 hours in cement tanks and then dried up to 10 days under plastic parabolic covers, depending on the weather. The Djimma Agricultural Center was established in the early 1970s after a problematic harvest prompted the government to create a centralized resource for improved coffee seed access. Over time, more agricultural centers were built across Ethiopia to support producers. Unlike many other parts of the country, this area has not seen a large shift from coffee to khat or eucalyptus. These alternative crops are known to harm the environment by drawing excessive water from the soil. In contrast, coffee is both economically viable and ecologically supportive. Coffee farming requires a healthy forest ecosystem, so as long as coffee continues to be grown in this region, the surrounding forests will remain.