ETHIOPIA BEDHATU JIBICHO WASHED #1366

Curator's Notes

It’s all in the family with Klatch’s Ethiopia Bedhatu Jibichu Washed, our newest light roast Ethiopian coffee this year! Producer Bedhatu and her family have been growing coffee in Gedeb for over 50 years! Year after year, their family produces immaculately clean and complex lots. This year’s harvest shines with clear notes of jasmine tea, bright green apple, and citrusy lemongrass. You’ll find a bounty of the fruity, tea-like flavors we look for in a classic Ethiopian coffee.

Roaster's Notes

https://www.klatchroasting.com/collections/single-origin/products/ethiopia-yirgacheffe-bedhatu-jibicho-washed This is a traditional triple-washed coffee from Gedeb, Ethiopia produced by Bedhatu Jibicho and her family. Wonderful Gedeb-like characteristics are back! Initial flavor profile is immaculately clean and floral, with notes of black tea, peach, ripe orange, caramel, vanilla, and sweet basil. With a jasmine, lemongrass and a sweet tartness of green apple. Ethiopia Yirgacheffe 1 Bedhatu Jibicho Washed is produced by Bedhatu Jibicho. Bedhatu was born and raised in Worka where her farm is also located. As Bedhatu is now over 80 years old, her adult children have started to become more involved in continuing her rich tradition of coffee production. The family plans to use the premiums from coffee sales to expand production and start an export company. Her family’s journey in coffee is emblematic of the recent changes in the Ethiopian export rules, which in the past few years have opened new opportunities for individual farmers to export their own coffee, rather than limit exportation to cooperative unions and private companies. Bedhatu is native to the Worka area in the Gedeb district of Yirgacheffe. Her late husband was granted the family land in the 1960's from the Ethiopian government. After he passed away in 1991, Bedhatu continued to single-handedly manage the farm while raising all six of their children. She eventually joined the larger Worka cooperative in 2011, and then the nearby Banko Gotiti cooperative when it formed in 2013, both part of the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU). In the same year she was recognized as a model farmer by the union and became eligible for processing training that would allow her to prepare and sell her own coffee as a separate lot, marketed and handled by the union as part of a new program of differentiation. Bedhatu’s sons had joined the family farm effort a few years prior, and with their help and the union’s blessing, the family eventually formulated a separate business entity that could export direct. That business, Roba and Family Coffee, is perhaps the most successful single-farm exporter we know of in Gedeb.   While the Roba family has expanded their reach to support other producers, we are always pleased to have an offering from Bedhatu’s original 84-acre farm, which she has personally managed for over 50 years now without the use of chemical inputs.  84-acres is drastically larger than most farms in the area, and Bedhatu employs 20 year-round workers and another 130 seasonal workers for the harvest who are primarily women. The farm itself produces about 5 containers of exportable coffee each year, which is always among Royal’s top qualities and one of the most sought-after Ethiopia profiles we carry. For this washed lot, cherries are carefully hand sorted and floated to separate out less dense beans, then depulped, fermented for 48 hours, and washed and classified again by density in grading channels. The parchment is rinsed and placed on raised beds where it is hand sorted again and dried over a period of 12 to 15 days. The parchment is often covered during the afternoons to prevent harsh drying in the intense sun. As a family owned business, emphasis on social impact in the communities where they source coffee is taking shape. The Roba family has invested in more localized cherry collection sites to reduce the transportation cost for other producers.  They have also contributed to road construction projects that make travel a bit easier for everyone. Annual farm visits and regular communication with farmers representative on the ground in Ethiopia, has been an essential component for ensuring that farmers and washing stations are following strict farm management and post-harvest protocols to keep their coffees strong. For most newer single-farm exporters, the results have been increasing cup quality and higher returns for the individual producers over time. For Bedhatu and team, however, the coffee is simply always outstanding.