Karamo | Coffee

Niguse Gemeda Mude’s farm is in the Karamo community, part of Sidama’s Bensa district, just inside the zone’s eastern border with the Harenna Forest National Park. This part of Sidama contains some of the zone’s highest farming elevations and coolest daily temperatures. The farm itself is two hectares, only slightly larger than the average among smallholders in the region. But the quality potential was so apparently high that Faysel Yonis, founder of Testi Coffee and the innovative Testi Ayla coffee washing station, decided to pre-finance Niguse’s crop. Pre-financing a coffee crop, perhaps especially on a single smallholder level, is a sensitive undertaking. Niguse employs 30 people to complete a harvest, and with an elevation of 2000+ meters, harvest is later and slower than many other farmers in Sidama. The two coffee professionals collaborated in processing, which was completed at Testi Ayla washing station, to which Niguse is a regular supplier. Drying demanded additional sorting and care to be sure only the best cherry was represented and dried as meticulously as possible. These efforts result in a cup with floral and fruity fragrances of tea rose, orange blossom, and mixed berries. Notes of blueberry pie and passionfruit cool into a caramel sauce sweetness, with a bright acidity and velvety mouthfeel carrying into a flavor saturated aftertaste.Fulfilled by our friends at Bird Rock Coffee Roasters