03 Ethiopia Biloya

One of the most beautiful aspects of the coffee growing world is the intersection between quality, economy and cultural expression. The coffee supply chain requires multiple steps to provide high-quality coffee, and each origin demonstrates a unique approach. In this way, coffee economies become an extension of that individual country’s cultural expression. In Ethiopia, washing stations are one of the most important components in the coffee ecosystem. Without them, smallholder farmers have to travel a long distance with their harvested cherries or they are forced to sun-dry their coffee - both of which can cause fermentation and quality issues. Many world-class coffees throughout Ethiopia have been discovered through the services provided by washing stations. With this in mind, let’s focus in on an area located in the infamous Yirgacheffe region, near Kochere Wereda, in Gedeo Zone, and a washing station called Biloya. Established in 2000, the Biloya washing station provides high-quality wet-processing for roughly 200 smallholder farmers that live within a 2km of the mill. Here, farmers sell lots of cherry by weight to the mill for a set price based on a visual quality evaluation. As many coffees come in and are processed, these individual lots are mixed together and then sorted by grade, with “Grade 1” being the highest quality and “Grade 9” being the lowest. Once the coffee is processed and sorted, lots are sold based on quality. The additional quality premiums make their way back to the washing station and are distributed throughout the community. By pooling all the crop together and separating the entire lot by grade, the whole community benefits from the resulting quality — a beautiful example of the communal culture of Ethiopia. Our new 03 is a Grade 1 lot from Biloya, and a beautiful representation of the quality and terroir of the region.