Tagel Alemayehu Olkai Coffee - Washed Landrace - Ethiopia

Whole Bean
Roast: Light
Recommended Rest: 4-6 weeks from roast date
Tasting Notes: mandarin orange, yellow peach, jasmine tea

Origin Details

Region: Hambella, Ethiopia
Elevation: 2350m
Producer: Tagel Alemayehu, Olkai Coffee
Process: Washed
Variety: Landrace

ABOUT THIS COFFEE AND PRODUCER

From Crop to Cup: 

After visiting with smallholders and single farmers around Yirgacheffe, we got picked up in a truck driven by Tagel Alemayehu, the owner of Olkai coffee—a former race circuit driver, whose efficiency as a driver is only matched by his humility and warmth. For Tagel, coffee runs deep: He’d grown up in Bule Hora, the son of a local coffee trader who built the first washing station there and installed the first Pinhalense dry huller in Ethiopia. Starting in 2004, he worked as washing station manager at one of first specialty natural stations in Guji, and founded Olkai in 2018 as the government export regulations opened. Olkai is a family business; his wife works as the export manager. Tagel and Olkai operate a half dozen washing stations in the south dotting many of the most sought-after regions for quality in Guji, Bule Hora and Sidama. Tagel’s ties to the community were forged over 20 years of collecting cherry from these regions. Community members later sold land to make space for him to operate a washing station in their community, and many stopped us along our journey out of Hambella to say hello to Tagel and chat.

WHY WE SELECTED THIS COFFEE

This is our first time working with Tagel Alemayehu and Olkai Coffee out of Ethiopia, and it feels like a really special introduction. The coffee shows everything we love about washed landrace lots, with a bit more body and citrus complexity.

Up front it’s all classic citrus qualities we love. Orange, lemon, and lime come through juicy and zesty, bright without being sharp. As it cools, the cup softens into a sweeter, velvety stone fruit note that reminds us of yellow peach. The finish is where it settles into gentle jasmine aromatics that give the whole cup a jasmine tea–like feel.

It’s clean, balanced, and easy to return to day after day. A fantastic everyday coffee and one we’re genuinely excited to share and drink every day ourselves.