Ethiopia Guji Anaerobic

This coffee comes to us from the villages of Gerbicho and Rogicha which are part of the Guji Zone. Anaerobic natural or dry processed coffees are a form of fruit-dried/natural-processed coffee using techniques and elements long established by vintners. This process involves removing excess oxygen from the environment, often requiring fermentation to occur in a stainless steel tank with a one way valve to bleed out gases produced during the fermentation. Ultimately, this leads to a deep, fruit-driven, aroma, sweet-tart structure with high-toned acidity and plush, satiny mouthfeel and finish.

This year the ECX - Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, which is the governmental entity that oversees the country’s coffee industry - has set pricing “floors” for export of some of these newer and/or experimental processing methods. ECX has done this with smallholder farmers and less robust cooperatives in mind to help them stay on level footing with larger concerns.

From the importer, Ardent Coffee:

Mature cherries are placed inside stainless steel containers along with clean water. We inject nitrous oxide into the tank to quickly remove oxygen which helps slow down the typical rapid breakdown process. Yeast and bacteria contribute to the ferment of cherry sugars and holding a higher thermal temperature maintains this slow ferment for about 60 hours. Our tanks are properly vented to release CO2 and which helps retain great acidity in each profile. The Cherries are brought to traditional Ethiopian drying beds, one layer thick, and hand stirred every few hours during sun exposure for the first 5 days. This creates even drying for consistency. The total drying target time is 28-32 days.