Not only the history of mankind begins in Ethiopia, but also that of coffee. It was an Ethiopian bean, lightly roasted, that got us so excited and completely changed the way we think about coffee. Without them, Maldaner Coffee Roasters would probably not exist today. That's why we start our Christmas story with this special coffee country. This one comes from the highland municipality of Werka. The people here have a long tradition of growing coffee and coffee plays a special role in their culture. The combination of meticulous cultivation, intensive care, rich soil and extreme cultivation height gives the coffee its floral notes with aromas of black tea and blackberries.

Origin: Ethiopia
Region: Nensebo
Washing Station: Gara Kogne-Testi
Producer: Faysel A.
Farmers: 750 small farmers
Variety: Heirloom
Cultivation altitude: 1945 – 2100 m
Preparation: washed
Cupping Score: 86.5
Degree of roasting: light
Aromatic Notes: Black Tea, Blackberry, Floral

About a 14-hour drive from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, is the highland community of Werka. The area is known for "Konjo Buna" which means "good coffee" in Ethiopian! The people here have a long tradition of growing coffee, and coffee plays an important part in their culture. The coffees are sorted and processed with great care, which is reflected in the very high cup quality. Due to the altitude, the coffee grows more slowly and therefore develops distinctive flavors.

The farmers here usually own no more than 2 hectares of land, on which they plant bananas, corn and grain in addition to coffee plants. Not only is this for the coffee to grow in the shade, but it also encourages soil biodiversity.

Every day during the harvest, around 700 smallholders bring their cherries to the washing station for processing, which Faysel A. and his family run. He pays the farmers higher prices for their coffee cherries than usual. The family also works closely with the farmers to improve the quality of the coffee from harvest to harvest. This not only ensures an extraordinarily high quality during cultivation, it is also carried through the entire preparation process, which produces super clean cup profiles. In addition to the careful preparation of sensational specialty coffees, they are also very involved in the community around their washing stations. They build schools, support them financially and try to improve the living conditions of the farmers, for example by giving them access to clean water and electricity.

For the fermentation of this coffee, 80% ripe and 20% almost ripe cherries are initially selected. The cherries are immersed in a water tank to remove the so-called "floaters". The cherries are then directly depulped and fermented for 100 hours. This coffee is part of the "Improved Process Project": Every 24 hours, the old water is replaced with fresh, cold water. During the entire 5 days, the fermentation proceeds very slowly at an ambient temperature of 18.5-20.5 degrees Celsius.

In order to dry the cherries to the necessary moisture content, the so-called parchment is dried for 15 days on raised African beds under a parabolic net after fermentation is complete.

The result is a super clean, juicy and complex cup that reminds us of a black tea with blackberry notes.