suke quto

From : Suke Quto, Odo Shakisso, Guji, Ethiopia

Varietal : Kurume, Welicho 

Process : Washed

Producer: Tesfaye Bekele

Notes : Yellow Peach, Bergamot, Dandelion

whole coffee beans

Processing

Tesfaye Bekele collects cherries from 171 neighboring outgrowers. The cherries are pulped and fermented in fermentation tanks for 35-48 hours depending on the weather. The parchment is then dried on African raised beds for around 7 days. 

This is our first Guji coffee! I love Ethiopian profiles that come out of Guji with their great stonefruit and florals. Suke Quto Farm had a great year and it shows with this washed lot. This coffee has plenty of sweet yellow peaches and apricots. The acidity of this Ethiopia is still very high as we expect from the region, presenting a very lemonade-like taste. The bergamot is very pronounced in this coffee like Earl Grey tea. Florality in this coffee is high and easy to pick out. It most often presents very yellow and slightly herbal like dandelion and mums. Over days of tasting we have experienced notes of yellow peach, bergamot, dandelion, mums, lemonade, earl grey, apricot, raw honey, and arnold palmer. 

The Suke Quto Farm

Suke Quto Farm is stretched out over the high lands and valleys of the Odo Shakisso woreda. The volcanic soil found on the farm is very fertile. Tesfaye keeps the soil in shape by organic recycling through litterfall, root residue from coffee and shade trees. Suke Quto coffees are all Organic and Rainforest Alliance certified.

Tesfaye works together with 171 outgrowers that deliver cherries to the Suke Quto Washing and Drying Station. Besides partnering up with outgrowers, he owns another 221 hectares in the highlands of Guji. More than 200 seasonal workers are needed to pick and process the Suke coffees.

Tesfaye Bekele

Ato Tesfaye Bekele is one of the people that put Guji specialty coffee on the map. While the Guji zone was dominated by cattle farmers, he sought new ways to make coffee popular in Guji. “I don’t consider myself to be a coffee farmer, because coffee is everything to me. All my time and energy are placed into the beans that I harvest and process.” Tesfaye Bekele, the founder of Suke Quto Farm, explains.

“I come from a coffee-producing family, so during my childhood, I started to work with coffee early on”, Tesfaye continues, “At first, coffee did not have my interest. The labor was hard, and the days were long. But after several years of study and other work I returned to my home in the Shakisso woreda, Guji. I found myself in coffee again”.

Sourced from Trabocca