About the coffee
- Cupping notes: Fruity sweetness, with dark chocolate, apple, nutmeg
- Cultivation: Mountain grown in the Sidamo region of Ethiopia
- Altitude: 6,400 feet
- Varietals: Local, native Ethiopian varietals
- Preparation: Natural, sun-dried on raised beds.
About the people who grow it
Ethiopia is known as the birthplace of the coffee tree, and the place where human evolution began. This uniquely sweet, heirloom variety coffee is named Ardi to honor a famous early human fossil discovered in Ethiopia. Since first tasting these striking beans, Keffa has worked closely with partners in Sidamo to ensure the quality in the processing, storing, and shipping of this exceptional coffee.
The Sidamo region’s fertile soil lends rich nutrients and deep color to its coffee. Good weather means good coffee, and this year’s harvest of Ardi is bountiful and flavourful, thanks to healthy rainfall during the growing season.
There are few views as striking as a hillside washing station with more than 300 raised beds full of crimson cherries drying in the sun. After small farmers harvest their coffee and bring it to their local mill, hundreds of skillful workers continue to sort out overripe and underripe cherries. The coffee dries on raised beds for 8-10 days and is rotated every 30 minutes to promote even drying. The time spent on the raised beds is complemented by 2-3 days of final drying on a concrete patio.
It is very likely that in and around the Sidamo region is where coffee had its origins. Sidamo coffee is well-balanced with cupping notes exhibiting berries and citrus with complex acidity. The Sidamo highlands have elevations from 5,000 up to 7,000 feet above sea level. Here the Ethiopian coffees grow more slowly and therefore have more time to absorb nutrients and develop more robust flavors based on the local climate and soil conditions.
The Sidamo region’s fertile soil lends rich nutrients and deep color to its coffee. Good weather means good coffee, and this year’s harvest of Ardi is bountiful and flavourful, thanks to healthy rainfall during the growing season.
There are few views as striking as a hillside washing station with more than 300 raised beds full of crimson cherries drying in the sun. After small farmers harvest their coffee and bring it to their local mill, hundreds of skillful workers continue to sort out overripe and underripe cherries. The coffee dries on raised beds for 8-10 days and is rotated every 30 minutes to promote even drying. The time spent on the raised beds is complemented by 2-3 days of final drying on a concrete patio.
It is very likely that in and around the Sidamo region is where coffee had its origins. Sidamo coffee is well-balanced with cupping notes exhibiting berries and citrus with complex acidity. The Sidamo highlands have elevations from 5,000 up to 7,000 feet above sea level. Here the Ethiopian coffees grow more slowly and therefore have more time to absorb nutrients and develop more robust flavors based on the local climate and soil conditions.
