Ethiopia Natural Kayon Mountain Farm - 1#

Roasted 1#

Ethiopia Natural Kayon Mountain Farm

Blueberries and chocolate silk pie. Grown by Ismael Hassen Aredo and family.

Ethiopia is commonly known as the cradle of coffee civilization, Ethiopia is where the coffee plant was first discovered, the beans roasted, and brewed. According to the legend of Kaldi the Goatherder, one day Kaldi noticed his goats nibbling on the cherries of a bush that were causing them to get energetic and jumpy. He took the cherries from the bush to a local shaman who upon examination scoffed and tossed them into his fire. Quickly an enchanting aroma filled the air. They took the roasted beans from the fire, crushed them up and added them to hot water and the first cup of coffee was made.

Ethiopia has a great tradition of heirloom varieties. In fact it's estimated that between 6-10,000 varieties of coffee occur naturally in these highlands. Traceability to specific farms is extremely difficult in this country, however, due in part to the government's nationalization program and auction system. Another factor is that most harvesting is wild grown forest coffee or comes from small backyard garden plots.

Among coffee-producing countries, Ethiopia holds near-legendary status not only because it’s the “birthplace” of Arabica coffee, but also because it is simply unlike every other place in the coffee world. Unlike the vast majority of coffee-growing countries, the plant was not introduced as a cash crop through colonization. Instead, growing, processing, and drinking coffee is part of the everyday way of life, and has been for centuries since the trees were discovered growing wild in forests and eventually cultivated for household use and commercial sale.

The majority of Ethiopia’s farmers are smallholders and sustenance farmers, with less than 1 hectare of land apiece. In many cases, it is almost more accurate to describe these farms as “coffee gardens” as the trees do sometimes grow in more of a garden or forest environment than what we imagine fields of farmland to look like. There are some large privately owned estates, as well as co-operative societies comprising a mix of small and more mid-size farms, but the average producer here grows relatively very little for commercial sale.

Natural coffees are typically delivered the day they are harvested, and are first sorted for ripeness and quality before being rinsed clean of dirt. Then they are spread on raised drying beds or tables, where they will be rotated constantly throughout the course of drying. Drying can take an average of 8–25 days, depending on the weather.

Kayon Mountain Farm

The Kayon Mountain Coffee Farm is a 500 hectare certified organic farm with about 300 hectares planted in coffee and has been owned and operated by Ismael Hassen Aredo and his family since 2012. It is located 510 kilometers south of Addis  baba, and the property crosses the border of two villages—Taro and Sewana—located in the Oromia region, in the Guji zone of the Shakiso district of Ethiopia. Ismael oversees a staff of 25 permanent full-time and 300 seasonal employees, and the farm management offers free transportation services as well as financial support for building schools and administration buildings for the community. The farm competes with a nearby mining village for seasonal workers, so Ismael and his family tend to pay higher wages to their pickers in order to incentivize them returning year after year. Kayon Mountain farm has a nursery on-site and utilizes shade (acacia and other
indigenous trees) to protect the coffee as well as for creating compost to fertilize naturally. Ismael is meticulous about not only the structure and management of the farm itself but also the harvesting and processing. Both Natural and Washed lots

Farm    Kayon Mountain Farm
Process     Natural
Variety     Heirloom Ethiopian Varieties
Elevation 1900 to 2200 MASL
Region     Guji
Country     Ethiopia
Harvest     Nov - Jan