Wate Musuka - Ethiopia

BRIGHT & SWEET
Lemon Shortbread - Apricot Jam - Earl Grey

PRODUCERS: 361 Small Holder Farmers
PROCESSING METHOD: Washed
VARIETY: Kurume

Wate Musuka is a snapshot of our first favorite style of coffee and, as a result, one which we are very picky. In our opinion, the category of washed Ethiopians should be clean and bright, marked by notes of citrus and florals. This cup is full of that. On the very first sip you will taste lemon candy developing into buttery shortbread and a floral, tea-like finish. As the cup opens up more you will see a sweeter fruit flavor come forward that reminds us of apricot jam and even a hint of wild strawberry. Cooling, you see those flavors come together into bergamot and rose, like a very fine Earl Grey tea.

The Wate Musuka Washing Station is a very new mill, established in 2019, by Tesfaye Bekele and Genet Shibiru, previously known for their other well respected mill, Suke Quto. This mill is located in the Uraga district, part of the Guji zone, near the towns of Solamo, Kofole, and Hambala. It was built to support the increasing coffee production along the Guji/Yirgachefe boarder, as a result of climate change. While the landscape is that of a typical Ethiopian highland, many of the producers in the region are new to coffee. Tesfaye and his team are using this as an opportunity to begin with a foundation of education on proper farming practices and a focus on sustainability. We have worked with Tesfaye's mill, Suke Quto, for years and we are excited to be able to carry that forward into this new chapter, as they expand into this new project.