The Story

Our natural Yirgacheffe from the Kochere Mill was part of a small scale quality project to inspire the small lot coffee farmers in the region to produce the best possible washed, natural and pulped natural coffees. The program was given the name, Operation Cherry Red. Before harvest began, a select group of farmers were selected to participate, focusing on carefully hand selecting 100% ripe red cherries several times.

The natural process is the traditional method of processing coffee. After the cherries are harvested, they are placed onto drying beds to allow the sweetness of the cherry to be imparted into the seed. This method is labor intensive, as the coffee has to be constantly monitored and rotated to avoid uneven or improper fermentation. The cherries at the Kochere station are dried over the course of 15-20 days. Once the cherries have dried, they are separated by lot in a local dry mill before being sent to the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. From the capital, the coffee is sent to its destination across the world.

These photos were provided by Menno Simons.