ETHIOPIA WOLICHU WACHU #876

Washed Ethiopian coffees like this one are beloved classics of the coffee world. At their best, they’re sweet and clean, with a bright profile of fruits and florals and a tea-like delicacy. As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia is unmatched in the sheer diversity of its beans, where most coffee comes from small farms and grows naturally in wild forests. The typical Ethiopian coffees are heirloom varietals, meaning an unspecified mix of native coffee plants, but Wachu Wolichu is unique for being 90% Bourbon. It’s a special treat to taste African Bourbon, the origin varietal for most coffee beans now grown in Central and South America.

If a sweet, sugary sip of citrus, berries, and florals is “wachu” want, Wolichu Wachu is what you’ll get! We love the bright fruit flavors, and the smooth, citrusy floral finish that makes this cup a joy from the first sip to the last. Reserve a bag of Velton’s Ethiopia Wolichu Wachu today, and enjoy the morning sunrise— in your cup.

The Wolichu Wachu washing station was founded in 2017 and serves 4,500 local smallholder producers in and around the town of Haro Wachu, in the Urga district of Guhi in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The average producer here farms on half a hectare of land, and delivers coffee in cherry form to the washing station, where it is processed as necessary.

Washed lots like this one are sorted in cherry upon delivery, then depulped and fermented underwater for 48–72 hours. The coffee is then washed and given an additional soak for 8–16 hours before being spread on raised beds to dry for 9–12 days, on average.

According to the washing station manager, 90 percent of the coffee delivered to the factory is Bourbon, and 10 percent is Typica: While these are two varieties better-known in Central and South America, the same terms are used colloquially in Ethiopia to describe certain coffee-berry-disease-resistant cultivars. The Ethiopian "Bourbon" and "Typica" varieties are typically genetically removed from the ones found elsewhere around the world.