Ethiopia
Abebe Cherfo

Abebe grows coffee on over 5 hectares of land, producing enough cherry to process and sell his lots independently, under his own name. This lot has grown at high altitudes in the Kochere region, unveiling flavours of black tea, bergamot, and dried pineapple.

Washed process Kurume, 74165, 74112

Flavour: black tea, bergamot, dried pineapple

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

Abebe Cherfo owns 11 farm plots (5.24 hectares), where he only grows coffee—predominantly Kurume, a local Ethiopian Heirloom subvariety. This land is near Reko, a village in the Kochere region, sitting at altitudes between 1900 and 2000 metres above sea level.

With these cherries, he produces washed coffees in the Jabanto Producers Group, from which he has been a member since 2019. Abebe’s production is one of the few in the area that can claim organic certification.

These days, coffee is the only source of income for his large family. Diversification is his top priority in the coming years, and he plans to invest his profits into retail businesses such as cafes, restaurants, and other logistics.

Coffee processing

Hand-picked coffee cherries are taken directly from the farm to coffee processing sites for sorting—removing unripe, lighter, overripe, and insect/pest-damaged cherries. Only well-ripened red cherries are kept for pulping on an Agard pulper. Immediately after pulping, the coffee is soaked in water for 48 hours to undergo wet fermentation. During this period, the water is changed every 24 hours. This round of fermentation is completed once the mucilage is completely removed by washing the parchment coffee with clean water.

Lastly, clean parchment coffee is transferred to a soaking tank, where it remains submerged for 2-4 hours. After this, the coffee moves to the skin drying stage, where the parchment coffee is spread out by hand under shade. This process typically lasts for 2-4 hours in the morning.

Skin drying is followed immediately by the final main drying stage. In this phase, the parchment coffee is transferred to a raised drying bed, where it stays for 10 days until the bean moisture level reaches 10.0-10.5%. During the main drying phase, the parchment coffee is placed under the sun for two hours in the morning, between 8:00 and 10:00 AM. To protect the parchment coffee from the hottest part of the day, it is covered with nylon mesh and plastic between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM. In the afternoon, the parchment coffee is uncovered again for two more hours, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. This routine is followed consistently throughout the main drying period to ensure drying consistency.

Jabanto Producer Group

The Jabanto Farmers Business Group was established in 2018 with the help of G Broad PLC. Initially, 29 smallholder coffee farmers from the Gedeo zone founded the group, and the size of the group has expanded over the years. Today, there are 87 registered smallholder coffee farmers in the group. The group produces various coffee types, including regional lots, village-level lots, single-farmer lots, variety lots, and processing lots.

The collaboration between Bi-Lab and Co-Lab, specialized coffee laboratories owned by G Broad in Addis Ababa and Condesa in Sydney, respectively, helps to better define coffee sourcing approaches, quality control mechanisms, and marketing and promotion opportunities for farmers.

Single-farmer lots represent the largest percentage of the product developed at Bi-Lab and Jabanto, and Condesa’s coffee sourcing collaborators at the origin in Ethiopia. Promoting coffee lots under the name of a smallholder farmer is central to our business and development philosophy. Out of the 87 registered member farmers in the Jabanto Farmers Business Group, those who produce outstanding coffee with superior quality and cup scores are promoted as single-farmer lots. We pay a better and higher price for single-farmer lots compared to composite (group) lots, such as the Jabanto lot. We believe that rewarding farmers for quality is a great way to foster competition among them, motivating them to produce better quality coffees year after year.

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer: Abebe Cherfo
Country: Ethiopia
Region: Kochere
Altitude: 1900-2000m above sea level
Varieties: Kurume, 74165, and 74112
Process: washed
Harvested: November 2023
Country grade: Grade 1 (Ethiopia)
Importer: Condesa Co Lab
Body: Light
Acidity: Bright
Tasting notes: Black tea, bergamot, dried pineapple
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Varieties

74112 variety

A varietal from the Metu Bishari selections made in the forests of the Illubabor Zone in western Ethiopia in 1974. The Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC) selected it (alongside a few others)for its resistance to coffee berry disease.

74165 variety

Kurume variety

An Ethiopian sub-varietal that falls under the umbrella of Heirloom/landrace category, called as such in the Yirgacheffe area but referred to as Kudhum in Guji.

The location

Coffee from Ethiopia

Seen as the birthplace of domesticated coffee, there are not many more exciting times at the Sample warehouse as when our fresh Ethiopian lots arrive. Legend says it’s our favourite origin…

The Kochere region of Ethiopia

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.