KAYON MOUNTAIN - Ethiopia

Producer:Ato Esmael

Crop:February 2017

Kayon Mountain Coffee Farm was established in 2012 in order to produce in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. The farm is located in the southern part of Ethiopia in the Oromia region, Guji Zone, which is 320 miles from the capital, Addis Ababa. The farm is privately owned by Ato Esmael and his family

Guji is a recent addition to the range of incredible coffees exported from Ethiopia. Historically it has been exported as a type of Sidamo, but after many years it has gained recognition by the Ethiopian government as a geographical distinction. While the cup profile is quite similar to Sidamo, some people feel that there is a “something special” about the Guji terroir.

New Heirloom plants have been planted on this 240-hectare plot in fertile clay loam soil under a natural forest canopy. Organic processes are used on the farm with animal manure being the main source of fertilizer. Coffee is harvested from October to February by people from local villages. Some of it is washed, fermented and dried in raised beds and the rest is left for the production of high quality natural processed coffee. The freshly picked coffee cherry is washed with the low density beans being channeled away for a lower grade. The higher grade coffees are placed on raised beds where during approximately 12 to 20 days of drying time they are meticulously turned and picked to remove any defective beans. Finally, the cherries are moved to reveal the incredible natural process coffee beans which undergo further sorting to remove any remaining defective beans.

The coffee beans are then dried to remove any remaining defective beans