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COUNTRY: Ethiopia
REGION: Sidamo
VARIETIES: Heirloom and Yirgachette
PROCESS: Washed
ALTITUDE: 1,800m to 2,200m
Ethiopia is a huge country (as big as Spain and France combined), with a high geographic diversity. It presents great contrasts ranging from the most inhospitable place on earth, the Danakil Depression, to the jungles of the Southwest in Yirga Chefe. But if there is one geographic characteristic that defines Ethiopia, it is its altitude: from the central plateaus of the country to the mountains in the South, the average altitude above sea level is 1330 meters. Yirgacheffe, theoretically a microzone of Sidamo, between the cities of Dilla and Agere Maryam. It was in this area where Mr. Hiwot, who was working for Besse & Co. in 1960, realized that in one of the processing mills located in the Yirgacheffe area, Melkalole, the coffees had unique characteristics: uniform size, bluish color, and a fruity cup like Sidamo, but with very characteristic floral and citrus notes, and very high acidity. He then decided not to blend this coffee with other Sidamo coffees and began to market it separately. Subsequently, 20,000 hectares of coffee were planted in the area to try to replicate those characteristics, and thus the denomination Yirgacheffe was created. But as in the case of Sidamos, when it comes to commercial coffees, coffees are classified as Yirgacheffes if they present certain cup characteristics. The Sidamo region is located in southern Ethiopia, on the border with Kenya and Somalia. Sidamo is the name of this rather mountainous territory, but also of the population that inhabits it and its language. Here, coffee grows spontaneously on the slopes of the heights or is cultivated in coffee gardens (small plots where each family also plants fruit trees and vegetables) or in larger plots, and is processed in washing stations scattered throughout the territory. In addition to being an important item in the local economy, it is also a protagonist in the social and cultural life of the place.
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