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Ethiopia

Moplaco’s Sheka Mill

This month’s coffees are both produced by our close Ethiopian partners Moplaco, at their Kawo Kanin farm and Sheka mill in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region. After visiting Kawo Kanin in January 2020, we have been longing to return to this captivating region. However, both the Covid-19 pandemic and the situation in Ethiopia have made this impossible. We have therefore been collaborating remotely with the team at Moplaco over the past couple of seasons, honing the selection of coffees which we’re excited to share with you in the coming weeks. The first releases in this month’s subscription are a fitting opener to Moplaco’s work, one of the very few entities in Ethiopia that work in every link in the chain, from tree to export.

FLORAL & ACIDIC

Sheka Washed

Sheka doesn’t have access to the large de-pulpers seen throughout the rest of the country. This means that to accomplish this washed process, the entire lot had to be de-pulped using a a small hand cranked de-pulper, before being washed in the new tanks, and dried on raised beds over 17 days. This has led to a clean and fresh expression of the Sheka terroir, one we came to recognise rather clearly during rounds of cupping together with Moplaco earlier in the year.

The floral aromas here are complex, fresh and almost herbal, while the cup is dominated by a note of fresh and ripe kiwi fruit.

FRUITY & BALANCED

Sheka Natural

Natural coffees have been exported from Sheka several times now, and are now produced using a well-defined protocol. Cherries are carefully selected before drying raised beds under shade. Plastic covers are often used, and the drying takes slightly longer than it would in much of Ethiopia due to frequent rains and cool temperatures during harvest.

This long drying results in a soft and rich sweetness in the cup, softening the kiwi notes we found in several Sheka lots this year into ripe tropical fruit, while maintaining the distinctly complex florals.