EKC | Ethiopia Sidamo Keramo
Cold Brew Bright Profile | Light roast
Tasting Notes: Lemon, Berries, Juicy
IT ALL STARTS AT THE COFFEE FARM
This coffee comes from the Sidama region of Ethiopia, and was grown at incredibly high altitudes (up to 2,300+ meters or 7,545 feet!). If we were to zoom in Google Earth style, we’d first see Sidama as a tiny region in southern Ethiopia. Going further in, there is the Bensa woreda (district) on the southeastern edge of Sidama, and even closer, we see Daye, the main town in Bensa. But we’re not at the farms yet! Within Daye is the village of Keramo, where the producers live and grow coffee, all on relatively smaller plots of land.
We purchased this coffee through our importing partner, The Coffee Quest, and they in turn found this coffee by partnering with the Ethiopian coffee export company Daye Bensa sound familiar?). Daye Bensa, founded in 2006 by brothers Asefa and Mulugeta Dukamo, isn’t only an exporter: they also run the Keramo washing station where this coffee was processed! At the washing station, the coffee fruit is separated from the seeds, and those seeds are washed, dried and prepared to ship to coffee roasters around the world.
When the Keramo farmers’ coffee cherries are ripe, they are harvested and then delivered to exporter Daye Bensa’s local washing station. Daye Bensa opened a washing station right in Keramo so that the coffee could be processed separately - this improves overall quality as well as traceability.
Rather than having Keramo producers travel with their coffee fruit to a neighboring village, Daye Bensa opened the Keramo washing station right in its namesake village. This means that they don’t have to worry about keeping Keramo coffees separate from coffees grown in other areas, and also, it means that farmers don't have to travel as far to deliver their coffee fruit. Coffee processing is a time that can really make or break a coffee, and Daye Bensa has been producing really amazing, high quality coffees: in 2021, they received 8th place in a national coffee competition!
TRACEABILITY
COUNTRY
Ethiopia
REGION
Sidamo
IMPORTER
Coffee Quest
VARIETAL
Ethiopian Landraces
PRODUCER
Various Smallholders
MILL / WASHING STATION
Keramo
PROCESSING
Washed
ALTITUDE
1800 - 2360 meters
DID YOU KNOW
According to Daye Bensa, the average cherry price paid to these farmers was 90 birr. This is compared to around 60-70 birr in other regions this year, and compared to around 25-30 birr just a couple of years ago!
PRICE TRANSPARENCY
$5.35
Price paid by Driftaway
$4.30
Free on Board price
$4.05
Farm Gate price
$1.91
Fair Trade price per pound
$1.71
Coffee C-Market price per pound
$0.05
Driftaway's World Coffee Research contribution per pound
This coffee travelled 7,053 miles to the Driftaway Coffee roastery in Queens.
Love the coffee? You can share your compliments & tasting observations with the farmers.
WHY DID WE SELECT THIS COFFEE?
We were super excited to meet Kenean Dukamo (Asefa's son) in person at this year’s Specialty Coffee Association Expo. He let us know why the usual lot that we have sourced from Daye Bensa through Coffee Quest, called Hamasho, was not available: the farmers of Hamasho had a very bad year, and after seeing the state of the coffee fruit, they decided not to produce it. We were instead introduced to this coffee from Keramo.
Even though the two villages are both in the Bensa woreda, and the town of Daye, the flavors of the Keramo are unique and different from the Hamasho. The Hamasho had more raspberry and marzipan flavors, while this Keramo has flavors of lemon and black tea, with lovely floral aromas - a perfect coffee for this Bright Cold Brew profile.
AVERAGE CUPPING SCORE
85.75
/100
85.75
SCAA Cupping Score
15 x 60 kg
Bags purchased
1 year
Length of producer relationship
100% (in 2022)
Transparent coffees purchased
HOW DID WE ROAST THIS COFFEE?
This coffee is being roasted by Ian T. from June 19th to July 14th in Brooklyn. We use the Loring Kestrel roaster for this profile. We have strict guidelines for each of the coffee profiles, and this roast has to pass the development time ratio test as measured in real-time by the roasting software, Cropster. Once it does, it is approved for production.
QUALITY CONTROL
We perform Quality Control via a process of coffee tasting called cupping on all of our production roasts once a week at our roastery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Each cupping is conducted by James M. and Ian T. using standard equipment, and is logged by our Q-certified cupper Ian T. All coffees are evaluated on a scoring scale of 0 to 3.
- 3.0 = exceptional roast - exceeds expectations
- 2.5 = on par with profile - matches expectations
- 2.0 = good roast, but 1 or 2 elements could be improved - needs improvement
- 1.5 or lower = failed - do not ship
PRODUCTION AND SHIPPING
Less than 24 hours after roasting, we bag your coffee in our production facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Our production team is led by Anthony and Torie, and supported by a rotating cast of local artists, musicians and independent professionals.
AT YOUR HOME
Brew this coffee with your favorite home brewer and enjoy the taste of incredible coffee! Here are a few tips on how to make the best coffee on each brewer.
View other posts about how to make better coffee at home on our blog Coffeecademy.
