About This Coffee
Meselech Tube has been farming coffee in Sidamo Bensa Daye since the 1980s. She inherited Shantaweyne Farm from her family and today, she supports her 6 children with the profits from her coffee business. Three of her adult children work on the farm with her. Meselech’s goal is for her coffee to be known worldwide. To do this, she investing in specialty-quality cultivation and processing, and she wants buyers to know her commitment to improving quality and yields.
As a participant in the Lalisaa Project, her primary objective is to secure a more consistent demand for her coffee and achieve better prices. With the increased income, she hopes to support the hardworking individuals who contribute to her farm’s success. Through the Lalisaa Project, Meselech benefits from agronomy support provided by Sucafina Ethiopia, which includes access to training sessions that enhance her skills in cultivation, harvesting, and processing. Her unwavering commitment to high-quality production, coupled with her participation in the project, empowers her to access better markets and improve her earnings. Designed to uplift smallholder farmers, the Lalisaa Project streamlines the supply chain, enhances quality, and boosts yields, ultimately fostering a sustainable future for coffee producers like Meselech.
Cultivation
Meselech intercrops coffee trees with banana, avocado and mango trees as well as timber tree and enset (false banana). She also has some livestock. She uses her animals’ manure as well as other organic farm byproducts to fertilize her coffee trees. She cultivates a diverse array of local landrace varieties, historically known as Ethiopian heirlooms, which ensures genetic diversity and resilience.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
The harvest season typically runs from November to January. Meselech selectively handpicks ripe, red cherry and processes it on her farm. She dries cherry on raised beds and rakes them frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 2 to 3 weeks for cherry to dry.
Ethiopia Grade 1
Grades in Ethiopia depend on visual inspection for defects and on cup quality. Grade 1 is considered the highest quality coffee. Grade 1 and 2 are considered specialty coffee, grades 3-9 are classified as commercial coffee. Grade 1 is free of cup faults and taints and has zero quakers.
Coffee in Ethiopia
While Ethiopia is famous as coffee’s birthplace, today it remains a specialty coffee industry darling for its incredible variety of flavors. While full traceability has been difficult in recent history, new regulations have made direct purchasing possible. We’re partnering directly with farmers to help them produce top quality specialty lots that are now completely traceable, adding value for farmers and roasters, alike.
The exceptional quality of Ethiopian coffee is due to a combination of factors. The genetic diversity of coffee varieties means that we find a diversity of flavor, even between (or within) farms with similar growing conditions and processing. In addition to varieties, processing methods also contribute to end quality. The final key ingredients for excellent coffee in Ethiopia are the producing traditions that have created the genetic diversity, processing infrastructure and great coffee we enjoy today.
Most producers in Ethiopia are smallholders, and the majority continue to cultivate coffee using traditional methods. As a result, most coffee is grown with no chemical fertilizer or pesticide use. Coffee is almost entirely cultivated, harvested and dried using manual systems.