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Guji, Ethiopia, Natural
Mixed berries, grapes and milk chocolate
A regional lot from the Guji Zone, this Natural processed Heirloom has a mixed berry intensity, notes of ripe grape, and a smooth milk chocolate finish, reflecting the depth of Guji's high-altitude character.
| TASTES LIKE | Mixed berries, grapes and milk chocolate |
| ROAST | Espresso |
| COMPONENTS | n/a |
This regional Natural lot is produced across the Guji Zone of Ethiopia's Oromia Region, drawing cherry from smallholder farmers in the high-altitude growing areas of the zone. The Guji Zone has emerged over the past two decades as one of Ethiopia's most celebrated specialty origins, with its highland sub-regions – particularly Uraga, Hambela, Shakiso, and Masina – producing naturals of extraordinary depth, fruit complexity, and terroir expression.
Coffee farming in Guji is predominantly smallholder-led, integrated with food crops in semi-forest conditions beneath indigenous shade trees. The combination of extreme altitude, cool overnight temperatures, and rich volcanic soils creates conditions that produce some of the most distinctive natural-processed coffee in the world, with the G3 classification allowing this character to be experienced across a broader spectrum of the zone's production output.
| PRODUCER | Various Smallholders |
| REGION | Guji Zone, Oromia |
| VARIETAL | Heirloom |
| PROCESS | Natural |
| ALTITUDE | 1800-2100 masl |
Guji is a zone in the Oromia Region of southern Ethiopia and has only in the past two decades emerged as a distinct specialty origin in its own right. Before the early 2000s, coffees from Guji were routinely marketed under the broader Sidama or Yirgacheffe denominators, masking the zone's individual terroir and producer contributions. Coffee in this region grows as garden or forest coffee, semi-wild beneath natural canopy, in deep red clay soils enriched by centuries of decomposed organic matter.
Ethiopia is widely recognised as the birthplace of Coffea arabica, and Guji's ancient Heirloom landraces represent some of the most genetically diverse expressions of the species on earth. The high altitude and cool overnight temperatures slow cherry maturation dramatically, producing dense beans and layered fruit character that has made Guji coffees among the most coveted in the specialty market. Increased traceability through washing stations across Uraga, Hambela, Shakiso, and Masina has allowed producers and importers to properly credit the smallholder farmers behind exceptional lots and has helped establish Guji as one of the most sought-after origins within Ethiopia's specialty landscape.