Another year is over and we are happy to bring you another fresh crop from Ethiopia. Yes,you guessed right our favourite Duwancho is back and this year will definitely not be behind the other Ethiopias. It gets its name from the fruit found in this region. The microlot comes from the Keramo region and was named because of the incredibly fruity cup profile it has.
279 Daye Bensa member farmers from the Keramo village area contributed to the processing of this lot. The entire microlot like many of Daye Bensa’s others is produced in small limited quantities allowing them to truly prioritize quality over volume in this case.
Once the coffee is received at the washing station it is sorted by quality and density. The floating cherries (under-ripe cherries) are separated from the ripe cherries. The ripe cherries are then moved to African raised beds and dried for 13-15 days. The beds are turned every 15 minutes to ensure even drying resulting in consistent quality.
This coffee comes to us in collaboration with exporter Daye Bensa. Largely focused on the local community, Daye Bensa aims to provide growers with additional bonus payments based on the volume they contribute to their micro-batches at the station and rewards its growers for consistent volume and quality year after year.
Traceability is extremely important in microlot production. The record book is meticulously kept and batch separation is key to ensuring the highest level of quality. On receipt the cherries are separated by village the coffee is then kept separate throughout the drying processing and storage period and labels are provided with the date of delivery,farm name, batch number and other details relating to the specific batch. They also operate a grower programme that provides farmers with an off-season payment in addition to the harvest fee and are actively working to improve the livelihoods and standards of farmers in terms of access to healthcare, public services, education and transport infrastructure. In addition, Daye Bensa works with school principals in the villages surrounding the farms to provide students with basic school supplies.
Last time we added this coffee to our production despite having a full supply at the time but we were extremely impressed by its potential. And it’s not even six months ago and we’re already bringing it back again.
Our barista’s note: Duwancho can impress with its distinctive aroma right from the grind. The first thing we smelled after pouring is the distinct notes of mint and other herbs. We had to grind it a bit coarser than we are used to with classic washed coffees but this was no surprise for us with dry-processed coffee from Ethiopia. We brewed our coffee at a ratio of 1 : 14.35 with a total of four infusions and a total flow time of around 3 minutes 10 seconds. The result was a full cup of coffee with a strong aroma and mint aftertaste. The body was dominated by the sweet taste of mango intermingled with notes of strawberry. The coffee has a purely tea-like character similar to a darjeeling.
