Farm to Cup: Inside Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe

Yirgacheffe sits within Ethiopia's Gedeo Zone, a region known for small, terraced farms rather than large estates — many lots are the combined harvest of numerous smallholders.

Many of the varieties grown here fall under a broad 'Ethiopian heirloom' classification, a genetic diversity that often contributes to the region's layered cup.

After picking, cherries are typically pulped and fermented at washing stations, then dried slowly on raised beds — a process that can take a couple of weeks depending on the weather.

The result is a coffee that often reads as tea-like and floral, with a clarity that has made Yirgacheffe a reference point for what washed African coffee can taste like.