Ethiopia Kembata Natural

The Kembata region of Ethiopia is in the Southern part of the country, bordering Kenya. They grow a large crop of "enset" which is a banana-like fruit. They are also relied on for their ginger, wheat, and corn production. But even though it's not one of the famous coffee regions of Ethiopia, they have been growing coffee here for hundreds of years, and it is legitimately good and very much Ethiopian in profile. This one is packed in grain-pro bags for ultimate freshness. The beans are largely defect-free, and are easy to roast because they are sorted by size. We roast it REALLY lightly, just barely out of 1st cracks, because it picks up a bitterness if you take it any darker.

These natural-processed beans remind me of a Harrar in many ways. The taste is sweet, with a smoothness on the tongue. Then, just enough tartness on the edge of your tongue to wake up your tastebuds. There's a strong lemon-loaf flavor, slight blueberries, cane sugar. The aftertaste lingers in a clean, crisp, sweet, pleasant way. Overall the body is on the thin side.

This coffee tends to be one of our favorites each year, but it doesn't cost what you would expect for a coffee of this caliber, because there is a lack of demand -- no one in the states wants to take a chance buying this coffee from a region that no one has heard of. Well, it is a super value, and I expect that we will continue to see coffees from this region here in the USA, and the price goes up year after year as people discover it. We've been bringing it in since 2013.

This is a dry-processed coffee, so you want to keep it on the lighter end of the roast. Get it to the first cracks, slow down the heat, draw it out about 3 more minutes....roughly 30 degrees higher than when the first cracks started...and sit back and enjoy this fine Ethiopian coffee.

US Arrival December 2023