Light Roast
$19.50 | 12 oz
Located in the eastern reaches of the Guji zone of Ethiopia, the village of Harso Haro Muda is home to a privately-owned coffee washing station. More than 2,000 smallholder coffee farmers from the surrounding area deliver their freshly-picked coffee cherries here. The combination of relatively young coffee trees, excellent varieties, high elevation, and very ripe coffee cherry picking practices result in this distinct coffee. We taste notes of lime, vibrant florals, and dark honey.
Kudhumi, Walichu, Miqe, Birbirsa, 74110, and 74112
Counter Culture only roasts the coffea arabica, but, under the species of arabica, we buy dozens of different coffee varieties from around the world. Learn more about varieties here.
Washed
Processing is the method to turn the fruit from a coffee tree into dried green coffee ready for roasting.
2050–2340 meters
This refers to the elevation at which this coffee was grown.
Through early-January 2021
This refers to the amount of time this coffee will be available for purchase at Counter Culture. Availability is determined by supply and also when the coffee tastes the freshest.
Counter Culture Coffee has expanded its coffee sourcing program from Gedeo zone to different coffee growing regions within the country. We directly source green coffee beans produced by smallholder coffee farmers, private coffee washing stations, cooperatives, out-growers, and big private farms. Eastern Guji zone is home to different coffee producer groups. Since 2016, Counter Culture has been working very closely with different coffee producers in the zone.
Coffee farming in the Eastern Guji zone is relatively new compared to the Western Guji and Gedeo coffee-producing areas. The age of the coffee trees in the Eastern Guji zone is a good indicator of the very recent history of coffee farming in the zone. Most of the modern coffee farms in the area have been around less than three decades. Uraga and Odo Shakiso Woredas are two good examples in the zone for the recent modern coffee farming expansion. It has been four years since we started sourcing coffee from Odo Shakiso while it is our second year sourcing coffee directly from Uraga. It was back in 2016 that we tasted great coffee lots from one of Oromia Union’s primary cooperatives in Uraga Woreda. Since then, we have been trying to strengthen our presence in the area and establish a business network with coffee producers. Our first field trip in Uraga Woreda back in December 2018 brought us a lot of opportunities to visit various coffee producer groups: single farmers, private washing stations, primary cooperative unions, and vertically integrated private washing stations. To establish a sustainable and traceable coffee sourcing approach, we put our focus toward discovering coffee suppliers in the area who export coffee directly from their washing station.
During the field trip, we discovered Welichu Wachu Industry PLC, a coffee exporting company, that supplies coffee to the international markets directly from its washing station. The washing station is based in Harsu Haro Muda Kebele in Uraga Woreda. In 2018–2019, Counter Culture purchased the Muda washed lot that was prepared following the procedure of fully-washed coffee processing techniques.
Over 2,000 smallholder coffee farmers from seven Kebeles have been registered as permanent members to deliver coffee cherries to this washing station. Well-ripened and uniform coffee cherries are pulped immediately after harvest and fermented for a total of 48–60 hours depending on the surrounding temperature. Water is changed every 12 hours during the main fermentation time. Soaking is applied overnight and sometimes for 16 hours after the main fermentation time to further clean up any remnants of mucilage. Then, the parchment coffee is directly taken to skin drying and finally to a raised bed for drying under the sun.
