A Buyer's Guide to Ethiopian Green Coffee

Where our coffee comes from

We buy at washing-station and cooperative level across three principal regions.

Yirgacheffe, grown between roughly 1,700 and 2,200 metres, is the most recognisable Ethiopian profile — jasmine and bergamot aromatics, citrus acidity, a tea-like body. It is the lot most specialty roasters ask for by name.

Sidamo sits a little lower and drinks fuller: stone fruit and berry, a rounder body, a winey sweetness that carries milk well.

Guji, administratively separated from Sidamo, has become sought after in its own right — intense berry character, heavy sweetness, and naturals that can be startlingly fruit-forward.

We also handle Kaffa forest coffee, the semi-wild origin material from the province that gave coffee its name.

How Ethiopian coffee is graded

Grading is by defect count in a 300g sample, together with screen size and cup quality.

Grade 1 and Grade 2 are the specialty brackets. Grade 1 permits the fewest defects and is usually reserved for the cleanest washed lots. Grade 2 is where most high-quality washed Yirgacheffe and Sidamo sits, and it is the grade most specialty roasters actually buy.

Grades 3 to 5 are commercial. They are entirely serviceable for blends, espresso bases and high-volume roasting, and they are priced accordingly.

We will always tell you the grade, the screen size and the defect count before you commit. If a lot has moved grade between harvests, you hear it from us first.

Washed and natural processing

Washed coffee has the fruit removed before drying. It gives a cleaner, more transparent cup where origin character and acidity come forward. Most Yirgacheffe exported for specialty is washed.

Natural coffee is dried whole, in the fruit, on raised beds. The result is heavier, sweeter and far more fruit-driven — blueberry and strawberry notes that some roasters build an entire menu around and others find too loud.

Neither is better. They are different products, and the choice usually follows your brew method and your customers. We are happy to send both and let the cupping table decide.

Harvest and shipping calendar

The Ethiopian harvest runs broadly from October to February, varying by region and altitude. Dry-milling and grading follow, and the first containers of new-crop coffee typically leave between January and March.

Planning against that calendar matters. Committing early in the season generally secures better lots at better prices; buying late means choosing from what is left. We will tell you honestly where we are in the cycle when you enquire.

Quality assurance before anything ships

Every lot we offer has been cupped before it is offered to you. Pre-shipment samples are available on request, and for larger commitments we will arrange a sample drawn against the specific lot reserved in your name, not a representative one.

Documentation — origin certification, phytosanitary certificate, quality and weight certificates — travels with every consignment. The detail is on the Shipping and Export Information page.

Moving from enquiry to container

Tell us the profile, the grade, the volume and the destination port. We confirm availability and send a pro-forma invoice covering price, packaging, Incoterms and an estimated shipping window.

Most buyers request samples at this point. Once the cupping is approved and the deposit received, the lot is reserved in your name and export documentation begins. From confirmed order to port of loading is usually three to six weeks.