Barista Magazine is your home for the worldwide community of coffee and the people who make it.
Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/452945
for buying and selling coffee, but I didn't quite understand why it existed, or why there seemed to be other ways of getting coffee out of Ethiopia than the ECX. Cooperatives? Private farms? Individual farmers? This wasn't Costa Rica, by any means. So here's my admittedly basic and clearly-going-to-change under- standing of the different systems in Ethiopia: t&UIJPQJBO;$PNNPEJUZ&YDIBOHF; &$9 $PGGFFJTQJDLFECZ MPDBMGBSNFST XIPPOBWFSBHFPXOIFDUBSFTPGMBOE BOETPMEUP washing stations, some of which pay a premium for quality cherry selection. Processed cherry is then blended into lots, which are placed on the ECX and given a grade through cupping and physi- DBMRVBMJUJFT&YQPSUFSTQVSDIBTFUIFMPUT; QVSFMZPOHSBEFUIFZSF OPUBMMPXFEUPDVQBMPUCFGPSFQVSDIBTJOHJU BOEUZQJDBMMZNJMMUIF coffee at their own dry mill. This system removes all traceability from the coffee, but ensures that farmers are paid promptly. All parties involved have limits on how long they can hold coffee, NFBOJOHUIBUDBTINPWFTBSPVOERVJDLMZ t$PPQFSBUJWFT4PNFDPPQFSBUJWFTIBWFCFFO given a license by the government to export their production directly, completely bypass- ing the ECX system. This solves the problem of traceability, but often leads to a lag in delivery time, which can result in decreased quality. t1SJWBUFGBSNT5IFHPWFSONFOUXJMMBMTP allow private farms to operate and export themselves, if they have the resources and connections. By the time this article is published, this FYQMBOBUJPOXJMMCFHFOFSBMMZTQFBLJOH wrong. What became clear during my time in Ethiopia is that gray areas exist everywhere, and the system is always changing. Z E L E L U One eccentricity in this system involves large-farm owners who are members of cooperatives. For the past three years, Café Imports has collaborated with three farm- ers: Ayele, Zelelu, and Birhanu, whose lands are large enough that they run their own washing station, but who use the Yirgacheffe $PGGFF'BSNFS$PPQFSBUJWF6OJPO :$'$6 to export the coffee as traceable, high-qual- ity lots. We pay a premium to the farmer for higher-quality cherry selection, and also develop a direct relationship with an Ethiopian farmer, such as these three. While most buyer interaction in Ethiopia is at the washing-station level, these coffees come from farmer-level interaction, some- thing relatively unheard of in the current state of Ethiopian coffee. Before going to his farm, Zelelu insisted that we join him at his house for coffee and TOBDLT0VSHSPVQXIJDIDPOTJTUFEPGSPBTU- ers and buyers from the U.S., Australia, and 5BJXBOUVDLFEPVSTFMWFTJOUP;FMFMVTUJOZ living room. The space was decorated with pictures of his family, and Christmas lights, and was painted an odd shade of blue. We all sat down around a table UPXBJUGPSDPGGFFPOMZUPIBWF;FMFMVFNFSHFGSPNIJTLJUDIFOJOBGVMM awards-ceremony gown, toting a certificate of achievement in agricul- UVSFGSPNBMPDBMPSHBOJ[BUJPO)FQSPDFFEFEUPTQFBLXJUIVTFYUFO- sively about his farming practices, detailed new variety separation FYQFSJNFOUTIFXBOUFEUPXPSLPOBOEUIBOLFEVTGPSDPMMBCPSBUJOH with him to produce such unique coffee. We ended the respite by tast- ing some honey he had recently harvested from bees that feed off of his coffee plants. As we left, still dazzled by this man's energy and enthusiasm for coffee, we noticed a picture on the wall of Zelelu, his wife, and none other than Café Imports co-owner Jason Long during his WJTJUMBTUZFBSi)B.ZXJGFXJMMHFUBLJDLPVUPGUIBUw+BTPOTBJE as he snapped a photo of the picture. We stepped out of the house 45 www.baristamagazine.com