FUGLEN COFFEE KARAMO / ETHIOPIA

Procurement from Ethiopian production areas started in 2020, and this year is the fifth time.
This time, it was my first time to buy natural refined coffee from the Sidamo region. The rich fruity flavor and moderate body weight unique to this refining method bring out a different personality from washed coffee.

The flavor features fruity flavors of fresh blueberries and citrus, gorgeous aromas of purple flowers, and lingering notes of milk chocolate. Fruity but with rounded and mild acidity.

Karamo Village is located in the Sidama region, a famous coffee-producing area in Ethiopia. The area is famous for its award-winning coffee. Karamo village is located in Bura Woreda, Sidama region, at a very high altitude. Due to the higher altitude, the harvest season is later than in other regions, and the cherries (coffee berries) ripen slowly, developing complex flavours.

Approximately 350 small farmers supply cherries to the coffee station, with the average size of these farms being approximately 2.5 hectares. Farmers sell their cherries directly at collection points or stations, depending on the location of their farms. On delivery, additional sorting is done based on the quantity of ripe cherries and payment is recorded.

After sorting, the evenly ripe cherries are transported to the drying station. Here, it is stirred regularly by hand to prevent spoilage and over-fermentation. At the height of the harvest season, cherries arrive almost daily, so they are moved to different beds depending on the degree of dryness. The cherries with a moisture content of approximately 11% are collected and transported to a dry grinder. The remaining parchment (pulp) is stored here and once a buyer is identified, is ground and exported as green beans.

In the past two years, I have twice visited the dry grinding plant of SNAP TRADING, the agent responsible for Ethiopian exports. Typically, dry mills are dusty and noisy, but my impression is that their workplaces are kept very clean, and they actively invest in equipment to improve quality.

Each department has a manager, and this time, like last year, it was Mr. Baha, the head of the classification department, who led us around. Producing high-quality coffee requires consistent management from cultivation to harvest to refining. From Mr. Bahar’s enthusiastic explanation, I felt the team’s commitment to producing high-quality products.