Ethiopia

Sheka

Bright florals and fresh ripe kiwi

The first time Moplaco have been able to export a washed coffee from their Kawo Kanin farm, processed at the Sheka mill.

The washed process unveils complex floral aromas and notes of clean and fresh green fruit, like lime and kiwi.

Producer
Moplaco
Coffee expression
A floral & acidic coffee

Regular price: $22.00
incl. vat/tax
Sale price: $22.00
incl. vat/tax
Regular price: ~~$22.00~~
Unit price: per

Out of season

Quantity must be 1 or more

Notify Me When Available

The first time we have been able to purchase a washed coffee from Moplaco’s Sheka mill, processed using small hand cranked de-pulpers.

Washed Heirloom

Sheka

This is our third release from Moplaco’s own farm, Kawo Kamin. Single farm lots are still rather seldom seen in Ethiopia, even since the liberalisation of the coffee market there in 2017, so it is a privilege to be able to share this boundary pushing lot by the team at Moplaco. We purchased a honey lot from Kawo Kanin and the neighbouring Sheka mill in its first season in 2020, followed by a small experimental process lot in 2021.

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 small hand cranked de-pulper, before being fermented and 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.

We visited Moplaco’s Kawo Kanin farm in 2020.

Etiopia

Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region

The Sheka forest is located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) in the far southwest of the country near the border with South Sudan. The forest, one of the most beautiful places we have visited during our years of coffee travels, is one of the largest areas of indigenous forest remaining in Ethiopia, known for its production of wild honey. While the healthy bees here are a good sign of biodiversity and minimal chemical use, much of Ethiopia has become very intensively farmed in recent years. The government has aimed to widen this intensive approach by offering grants to encourage agriculture across the still relatively untouched SNNPR. Especially tea and coffee production is incentivised, leading to the involvement of foreign investors, deforesting swathes of land to create large estates and enforcing questionable working conditions for natives.

Forty kilometres outside the town of Masha lies Moplaco’s Kawo Kamin farm, probably the single most beautiful coffee farm we have ever visited. Here, coffee is grown in synergy with the Sheka forest, using the indigenous forest as shade for the trees, keeping biodiversity alive. This also has a positive effect on coffee quality; the plants are well-nourished and grow in ideal moist conditions under the forest canopy. Most of the local farmers have even been able to maintain their bee hives in the 150 hectares of protected forest that surround the farm. This mode of production, working alongside the forest to cultivate coffee while still pruning and managing the plantation, is known as semi-forest coffee.

Moplaco’s Sheka mill

This carefully produced raw material is then taken to Moplaco’s Sheka mill to be processed. This station is Moplaco’s newest, and has mainly produced natural coffees so far, as the large fermentation tanks required to produce washed coffees were only just completed before the beginning of this harvest season. The Moplaco spirit of experimentation that we have witnessed on our visits is also present here, small lots of carbonic maceration and anaerobic processes have been produced en masse, like the small experimental lot we were able to share in last year’s Advent Calendar.

Technical Data

Producer
Moplaco
Region
SNNPR
Altitude
2000 masl
Varietal
Heirloom
Process
Washed
Harvest
January 2022

Washed Process

The washed process involves completely removing both the cherry and the mucilage from the outside of the parchment with the use of friction, fermentation and water. After being harvested, the coffee cherry is then sliced open by either a metal or a sharp plastic blade.

The two seeds (also known as beans) are pushed out of the cherry, which leaves the seed with mucilage as their outermost layer. It is essential in the washed process that all mucilage is removed from the seed which leaves only the flavour that developed in the cell structure of the seed prior to processing.