Episode 571: Ethiopia Ana Sora Natural - a podcast by Stephen Leighton

We're now into our fourth wonderful year of having coffee from Ana Sora, and I'm as excited this year as I was back in 2016! This coffee represents lots of time and energy working at the farmer's gate in Ethiopia, and it's one of the most unique coffees I've ever tasted.

My inbox has been full of emails asking for more, more, more Ana Sora! Well, here you go folks. 😀

We also have a washed version of the same coffee, which you can find here. Make sure you try them side by side if you get the chance, so you can enjoy the delicious variations that the different processing methods bring to the cup.

This private farm is owned by Israel Degfa, a second-generation coffee grower from Ethiopia and as coffee farms go, it's a very new farm: it was only formed in 2013. It's located at a whopping altitude of between 1,900 and 2,350 metres above sea level. It's a gorgeous but somewhat tiring walk to get there! (It's not all just holiday snaps, this coffee buying malarkey!)

Situated alongside the river Turo, the farm used to only produce naturally processed coffee. However, over the last year, the farmers have taken advantage of the water source and have begun producing washed coffee too.

It is unusual to find private farms of 250 hectares in Ethiopia, and even more unusual to find them at such high altitudes. The altitude helps with the slower maturation of the coffee cherry and allows more time for the plant to develop, which contributes to the super unique cup profile we see in coffees from Ethiopia.

Coffee growing is popular in this area, and Israel also sources coffee from the surrounding area. That area is populated by smallholder farmers who speak Oromife and are of Oromo ethnicity. Israel believes in helping these farmers through education in husbandry, and also through financial assistance.

Cherries are hand-sorted for unripes and overripes before they go into floatation tanks, where they're covered with water. Any cherries that float are removed. Whole, ripe cherries are then dried in the sunshine on raised African drying beds, which are laid out on hessian cloths for about 15–18 days depending on the weather conditions. The cherries are covered with plastic or shade nets during the midday heat and at night.

It's a unique coffee from a unique relationship, and I'm massively excited to share this coffee with you once again.

Do you like blueberries? I hope so!!! This coffee is all about the blueberries: think drinking blueberry juice whilst eating a blueberry muffin. It's not just the flavour of blueberry though. It's got a silky texture that reminds me of fruit juice, and a delicate lemon zest on the aftertaste, which is a perfect complement to all the blueberries.

• Country: Ethiopia


• Area: Guji zone


• Nearest town: Yirgacheffe


• Farm: Ana Sora


• Varietal: Indigenous wild varietals


• Processing: Natural


• Owner: Israel Degfa


• Founding year: 2013


• Altitude: 1,900–2,350 m.a.s.l.


• Farm size: 250 hectares, of which 150 hectares are coffee

CUPPING NOTES
Blueberry juice, blueberry muffin, lemon zest

Clean cup: (1–8): 7
Sweetness: (1–8): 7
Acidity: (1–8): 6.5
Mouthfeel: (1–8): 7
Flavour: (1–8): 8
Aftertaste: (1–8): 6.5
Balance: (1–8): 6
Overall: (1–8): 8
Correction: (+36): +36

Total: (max. 100): 92

Roasting Information
Medium – through first crack and into the gap. For more fruit, drop this mid-way through the gap; for more of that silky body, extend the roast slightly and drop just before second gets going.

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