Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Aricha
One Real 16oz. Pound
As a coffee terroir, Yirgacheffe has long been considered a benchmark for beauty and complexity in Arabica coffee. Aricha's cup quality is historic, made up mostly of indigenous Arabica varieties known for being beguilingly ornate and jasmine-like when fully washed, and seductively punchy and sweet when sun-dried.
Yirga Chefe Kebele
The Yirga Chefe kebele, or district, lies in the heart of southern Ethiopia's coveted Gedeo Zone. Gedeo is a narrow section of highland plateau dense with savvy farmers and fiercely competitive processors known for crisp, highly aromatic coffee profiles.
Aricha is deeply tied to Yirgacheffe's legendary reputation. Originally, the area was known as "Misty Valley" because of the humidity that settles in at night. "Misty Valley" was used by some of the first processing sites in Aricha to brand their coffee, and the term became synonymous with Yirgacheffe specialty coffee long before traceable coffee was available elsewhere in the country.
One Real 16oz. Pound
About this Coffee
Aroma: Jasmine tea and sweet cocoa
Body: Sweet lemon zest and candied ginger
Finish: Bright citrus highlights and just a touch of cocoa
GROWER: 250 smallholder farmers organized around the Aricha processing station
REGION: Aricha Kebele, Yirga Chefe Woreda, Gedeo Zone, Ethiopia
ALTITUDE: 1900 – 2200 Meters above sea level
PROCESS: Fully washed and dried in the sun on raised beds
VARIETY: Indigenous landraces and heirloom cultivars
HARVEST: November - January
SOIL: Vertisol
CERTIFICATION: Conventional
Get this in a 5-pound bag
Aricha Station Coffee Processing
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Aricha was milled at a private processing site in the heart of the Yirgacheffe district, owned by Netsanet Kebede and founded in 2010. Netsanet's processing station receives coffee cherries from 250 smallholder farmers in the immediate vicinity.
Farmers in the Aricha area average around 2 hectares per household and, in addition to coffee, cultivate avocado, soybeans, sugar cane, and enset, a fruitless relative of the banana tree whose inner pulp is scraped, packed into cakes, fermented underground, and then toasted and consumed as a staple starch. Washed coffees at Aricha begin with daily cherry delivery and careful hand-sorting for uniform ripeness.
Coffee cherries are depulped and fermented underwater for 24-48 hours, and then rinsed with fresh water the following day. After the parchment is fully cleaned, it is moved to raised screen beds to dry, continuously rotated until the internal moisture reaches 11.5%. This typically takes 7-10 days to complete. Fully dried parchment is then stored for multiple weeks to stabilize moisture content and water activity. Once fully cured, parchment is transferred to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital.