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It’s always a pleasure to sip coffee where legend confers around 800 AD that Kaldi, a goat herder, noticed his goats dancing and frolicking after eating cherry-red berries. Intrigued, Kaldi chewed the berries experiencing the first caffeinated euphoria. Eulogizing his inquisitiveness for perpetuity, Kaldi shared this curiosity with local monks who, disapprovingly, threw them in a fire only to be intrigued by the wonderful aroma, that we all know so well, and, after deciding to brew the ensuing roast, found their pray vigils greatly enhanced after consumption. A hard pivot on the original judgement with an adjudication of the humble beans as an elixir of wonder.
. To enjoy a brew cultivated in a paleontological wonderland where the most well know hominid coined “Lucy” lived around 3.2 million years ago and anatomically modern Homo sapiens roamed around 200,000 years ago. A country claiming the union between Solomon King of Israel and Makeda Queen of Sheba produced Menelik I establishing the uninterrupted 3000-year, 225 generation Solomonic Dynasty which continued until 1974 with the deposition of Emperor Haile Selassie.
To sip our intoxicating brew amongst the maven of coffee with lore claiming ownership of the fabled Ark of the Covenant housed in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum, vigilantly protected by a single monk taking a lifelong pledge to never leave… Indiana Jones would disagree, if you wish to believe a made-up character.
The country simply has an unrivaled antiquity pedigree that is both exotic and enchanting. Ethiopia is roughly the size of California and Texas, making it the world’s 10th largest, with Eritrea to the north, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the south and southeast and Djibouti sandwiched by Eritrea and Somalia due east. In the volatile African landscape, Ethiopia finds itself in a complicated geopolitical vise. Add that access to the Red Sea, only 78 miles due east, is barred by Eritrea. After being forcibly federated part of Ethiopia in 1950, Eritrea obtained independence in 1993 enduring a brutal 30-year civil war. The result being an icy diplomatic relationship leaving Ethiopia surrounded and land locked, amongst an unpredictable political milieu… back someone in a precarious position and conflict is the daily prescription.
Of even greater current geopolitical interest, Ethiopia is in the geographically distinct eastern “Horn of Africa” directly adjacent to the politically and militarily volatile 18-mile narrow Bab-el-Mandeb, translated Gate of Lamentation, straight which connects the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, providing entre to the Arabian Sea, while separating Africa from Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. Arab lore claims vast numbers were drown when an earthquake created the straight separating the two land masses. Nautical lore alludes to the dangers in navigating the straights. Current political reality highlights associated dangers with existing regional tensions. Anyway stacked, Gate of Lamentation is well named with the straight, historically and presently, fraught with uncertainty. This is a rough neighborhood, however, even amid the backdrop of such political questionability, the real miracle seems the improbability for consistently obtaining a premier brew.
Our coffee’s cultivation is located in the Guji Coffee Region and centered on the Kebele, translated village, of Hambela Wamena, approximately 290 miles due south of the capital Addis Ababa, where it is processed at the Benti Nenka washing station. The coffee… it is the most complex to this point in our holiday calendar selection and perhaps the entire calendar’s offerings. Amy and I agree, one of the, if not the, most deliciously complex we have ever tasted. We did our best to provide clarity but, in full disclosure, we feel woefully unqualified to provide a full rendering… the flavors are big and subtle… they change dramatically as the cup cools. Earlier in the calendar we identified the Kenyan coffee flavors as a Coltrane jazz saxophone montage requiring time to develop and consolidate as the cup matures. The Ethiopian is a full-on Duke Ellington jazz orchestral assault… big flavors, understated flavors, indescribable flavors… flavors seamlessly meld and evolve… you don’t understand but find great pleasure in the mystery. Don’t be overwhelmed…just kick-it like you’re swinging to the Duke at the Cotton Club in 1920’s New York City or at an all-night Gershwin cocktail party sing-along with the Tin Pan Alley prodigy, martini close by, at the baby grand. Amy and I just love this coffee business… keeps you on your toes.
Process: Natural… cherry allowed to remain intact and ferment before washed.
Elevation: 6233 - 6900 feet… you will not find them grown much higher adding to depth and complexity.
