Ethiopia
Gemede Family
(Espresso Roast)

This natural process lot is the sum of the harvests from different members of the Gemede Family. It has flavours of berries, chocolate, and fruit cake.

Natural process Kurume, 74110, 74112

Flavour: berries, chocolate, and fruit cake

Body: Acidity:

Roast: espresso (black + milk drinks)

The Gemede family—formed by Adanech Gemede, Zinash Haile, Birhanu Haile, Tego Gemede and Tadesse Galgale—has a reputation for its coffee. Most of them work on plots of land inherited from their parents, so they live close together near the village of Dobi in the Yirgacheffe area.

As a big group of producers, they can combine their harvests, process them together, and sell them under one name: The Gemede Family coffee lot. They do it in the Jabanto Farmers Group facilities.

Varieties

This lot features some typical Ethiopian Heirloom varietals: Kurume, 74110, and 74112.

Process

Before laying the cherry for drying, these are sorted in water by removing floaters and underripe fruit. The remaining ripe red cherries are dried on raised beds (usually called an African bed) for 18-21 days—this is when the natural processing takes place!

A total of 11kg of red coffee cherries per square metre is distributed on a drying bed made of bamboo mat. These are turned around manually 6 times per day to maintain uniform drying. Every night, the cherries are covered with nylon mesh and plastic.

During all these days, numerous quality controls take place. From the 15th day onwards, the moisture loss is constantly monitored. When the moisture level reaches 9.5%-10.5%, the natural fermentation process is considered complete—it’s time to pack the coffee.

Natural fermentation is a simple yet tricky process; soil, rainfall distribution, temperature, shade, and the genetic makeup of varieties play a significant and interdependent role in the final quality and flavour profile of each coffee lot.

The Gemede family members receive technical support on coffee agronomy and post-harvest handling practices from a local bureau of agriculture and G Broad Trading PLC, bringing quality and yield improvements year on 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 (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: espresso. We normally roast all our single origins omni, but there are some exceptions—this coffee is one of them! The roast profile leans to the darker side of the spectrum, but is still considered lighter when compared to other espresso roasts in the market.

Designed for espresso brewing. Best enjoyed black.

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

Best brewed within days 10–42 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

Recommended ratio: 1:2 to 1:2.2 in ~26-32 seconds

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

For our espresso roasts, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:2 or 1:2.2:

Dose: 22g ground coffee
Yield: 46–48g espresso
Total brew time: ~26-32 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 (espresso roast blends and single origins)
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: Gemede Family
Farm/Coop: Jabanto Farmers Group
Country: Ethiopia
Region: Gedeo, Yirgacheffe
Altitude: 1980-2200m above sea level
Varieties: Kurume, 74110, and 74112
Process: natural
Harvested: November 2022
Country grade: Grade 1 (Ethiopia)
Importer: Condesa Co.Lab
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Berries, chocolate, and fruit cake
Roast style: Espresso (black + milk drinks)

Varieties

74110 variety

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.

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 Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia

Unique for its floral and highly aromatic coffees. Some our of very favourite and memorable Ethiopian coffees have emerged from this legendary region.

Farm processes

Natural process

This technique leaves some flesh on the coffee cherry during processing and drying. This results in flavours which may show jammy fruit and a little winey-ness.