Koke - Ethiopia

Product info

This is an Omni-roasted coffee which means it is roasted to highlight the flavour of the coffee and will work well in all brew methods. 

Farm info

This lot of Koke Honey comes from a collective of around 1,200 smallholder farmers across the Birbes Kela, Koke, Konga, Wedessa, and Tisho kebeles. Farmers from these communities bring their freshly harvested cherries to the Koke and Birbes Kela washing stations for processing.

Our sourcing partners, Ally Coffee, have maintained a long-standing relationship with the Koke washing station since its establishment in 2011. The site has seen continuous improvements, especially after 2015, when the team began offering training and feedback to local producers to help raise cup quality. We’ve been working with Koke coffees for more than five years now, and it’s a relationship we’re proud to keep building on.

The Birbes Kela washing station, located in the Birbes Kela kebele, is owned and operated by Semira Negash. Founded in 2020, it functions as a vertically integrated partner of Tracon, one of our key exporting partners in Ethiopia. Despite being relatively new, Semira quickly earned recognition for her commitment to quality—her coffees placed strongly in Ethiopia’s 2021 Cup of Excellence.

Honey Process:

Honey Processing is when the coffee cherries have their skin removed along with varying amounts of the fruit matter (or mucilage). The fruit that remains on the coffee seed (bean) changes through enzymatic reactions and oxidation, encouraging the bean to develop different flavour compounds depending on how long the fruit matter is left on the seed. We classify the different amounts of time based on the colour changes to the mucilage; white, yellow, red, or black. White, meaning the bean was exposed for the shortest amount of time before the mucilage is removed, and black meaning the bean was left until the mucilage had completely darkened, and dried, before removal. The name Honey comes from the sticky quality that the fruit matter left on the bean has before it dries.

This coffee was rested for two days, letting fermentation happen in the cherry before de-pulping removing as much of the fruit layer. Skipping the washing portion of the cherry removal, the coffee seed (bean), is spread on raised beds that allow air flow above and below the beans. Once dried to the optimal moisture content, the parchment layer is milled off and the coffee is sent through mechanical sorters before a final hand sorting. The processing brings out incredible aromatics of blueberry jam and chocolate and lots of layers to pick apart as the coffee cools.