Coffee Story
This year's Holiday blend combines Ethiopia Aricha, a layered, sweet, fruit-forward, washed-processed coffee from the Yirgacheffe region in Gedeo, Ethiopia, and a vibrant, creamy washed coffee from the Cabanas group in the Santa Barbara region of Honduras.
Ethiopia Aricha
Aricha is a remote community in Ethiopia’s Yirgacheffe region, renowned for its ancient coffee-growing traditions. Farms are accessible via dirt roads, allowing producers to transport coffee cherries to collection centers using motorcycles, horses, or donkeys. However, the rainy season in November and December complicates logistics due to muddy roads.
Farmers practice intercropping, growing coffee alongside native trees like the false banana, which provide shade and nutrients. Most producers are part of the Gedeo culture, where traditions are integral to daily life, and animals are respected. While life in Aricha has its idyllic aspects, challenges persist, including limited access to clean water, electricity, and education. Many young residents remain on their parents' farms or purchase land to continue coffee cultivation, often due to limited opportunities in urban areas. This specific lot of Ethiopian Landraces is washed, fermented for 72 hours in cement tanks and then dried under parabolic covers for 12 to 15 days.
Honduras Cabanas
Honduras Cabanas is a field blend of Lempira, Catuai and Pache. The washed lot is dried on raised African-style beds and circulated every 30 minutes for 15 days to ensure proper drying. The Cabanas Rise Series is an initiative to support and assist smaller producing communities in their efforts to enhance coffee quality by purchasing larger volumes at premium prices. The series is a joint effort between our partner importer, Collaborative Coffee and the Paz family's Beneficio San Vicente in Honduras. The goal is to support these up-and-coming farmers in the Cabanas region by providing milling & logistics services, and actively working with them on new strategies to enhance farm-level practices and cup quality.
