ONYX - Ethiopia Hambela Alaka - Ethiopia - Washed - Landrace

ONYX Coffee Lab is located in Rogers, United State

From ONYX

The primary word I’d use when describing the coffees and practices of METAD is harmony. That experience is evident in the cup, with its delicate florals and soft fruit characters, but it moves far deeper than the taste experience of the coffees. Since I’ve been involved with the Adinew brothers, it’s been proven time and time again that they are committed to producing some of the best coffees in Ethiopia, and they uphold high standards of business while doing so. Within our near eight-year relationship, both Tariku and Aman have proven to care deeply about their coffees, and about personal relationships. Tariku Adinew has the gift of hospitality, making me feel at home when I’m halfway around the world, sleep-deprived, and usually over-caffeinated. This hospitality lends to the harmony I experience in their coffees, and the efforts of their family work surpass the experience that buyers have with them and their coffees.

The soil that this coffee is grown in was a gift to Muluemebet Emiru in 1934. Muluemebet was Africa’s first female pilot, and after World War II, she was gifted farmlands in Harar that became a private coffee estate. This ultimately formed the family connection to the land and their harmony with the cycles of coffee production. The Hambela estate is now world-famous for producing the best coffees in Ethiopia, no small part to the commitment of the Adinew brothers to elevate these coffees to heights unknown previously. METAD sets the standard for quality at each washing station they own, adapting practices from all over the world to grow and process coffee to the highest standard. Doing such great and harmonious work in the sometimes dissonant setting of Ethiopia is what sets them apart, and they strive to elevate not only the coffees but the people as well. Over the past few years, they’ve adopted a local elementary school that provides over 400 students with supplies and financial support through Grounds for Health. It’s clear that each action they take in Ethiopia elevates not only the coffees they grow but the people they work alongside. We are honored to continue to work with them each season.

Over the last four seasons, METAD has opened up a state-of-the-art dry milling facility where all of our coffees are milled and prepped for export. This is advantageous for everyone, as the lines can be long at other milling facilities. (and fraught with issues) This has allowed our sourcing program to stay nimble in the last two challenging seasons. The milling facility is located strategically outside of the city, with a direct road circumventing the busy capital of Addis Ababa. From the facility, the stuffed 20-foot containers preferred for coffee shipping can take a quick two-day journey to the port of Djibouti, and thus onward, eventually arriving at our roastery in Arkansas.

WASHED PROCESSED COFFEES
The washed process began less so with the intention of influencing flavor, and more so with the intent of creating an easy-to-dry ubiquitous product that will reduce risk. This process has maintained popularity for its influence on the final cup- coffees processed as ‘washed’ are typically more in line with what consumers expect coffee to taste like. Washed process coffees are celebrated for their high perceived clarity, as well as for a balance in fruit characteristics and acidity, but it is not always that simple. The process of removing the outer layer of fruit once a coffee cherry is, and has been, fairly simple. The post-harvest processing begins the moment the coffee cherries are picked. The cherries are usually inspected, with an initial quick round of hand-sorting, separating the defective coffees before placing them into the hopper of the machine. There are various methods used to remove the outer layer of mucilage from the cherries, the most common machines utilize friction to remove the thin layer of fruit skin from the cherry, followed by a formal fermentation phase meant to break down the sticky fruit layer. During this fermentation, a microbial de-mucilagation takes place, which allows the outer fruit and pectin layer to break down, making the coffee easier to dry. This fermentation process has a wild amount of variability depending on the facility, preferences of the producer, and cultural practice. Additions of water as lubrication through the machine are made most of the time, with an optional underwater fermentation. (Some forgo this, choosing to ferment dry.) Typical times for this post-depulp fermentation are 12-36 hours. This phase also crucially alters the organic acids within the coffee, as sugars and organic acids are transformed, with the best-washed coffees maintaining their complex fruit esters. Once the formal fermentation time is complete, the parchment-sheathed seeds are emptied into some type of washing channel, where they are agitated with rakes or paddles to remove the last of the fruit layer. During this step, the water is refreshed to ensure its capability of separating the fruit layer from the seed. Once the washing is complete, the coffee is taken to some type of drying facility to prepare it for exportation and storage.

While the terms we use to describe specialty coffee processing have stayed static, the methods used for post-harvest processing have adapted to not only now solve the problem of removing the outer sticky layer of fruit from the seed, but many producers now see this as an opportunity to influence the final taste profile of the cup. Seeing this final cup as malleable has led producers to use post-harvest processing to influence flavor through the control of variables. Outside of the well-known variable of the level of fruit left in contact with the seed over the drying, there are now a whole host of data points to monitor, even within the ubiquitous description of ‘washed processed.’ There are levels of fermentation, as we assume the level of fruit left on within this washed description is fixed. (at or near zero, after depulp, which we will discuss later.) The variables adjusted to add value while transforming the final cup are as follows: time, environment, and additives. Environment and time are closely tied, as certain fermentations will have a greater effect as the temperature increases in the given environments. Some producers have now taken on a less-than-passive approach when it comes to the environment, choosing to allow oxidation to take place, or by restricting the contact of oxygen to the seeds. (What we in the industry incorrectly call “anaerobic fermentation.) This variability in the environment is also sometimes coupled with an addition of yeast, fruit, spices, or even organic acids as inoculants or catalysts for reactions. As the world of post-harvest processing continues to shift and innovate, we strive to better understand and articulate the way the final cup has been shaped with better descriptors for the process.