Ethiopia Tibisa, Anaerobic Natural

Yirgacheffe (or Yirga Che’fe) is a district in Southern Ethiopia’s Sidamo region and is widely recognized as one of coffee’s ‘birth regions.’ Washed coffees coming from this district are so well-known and sought-after that Yirgacheffe is considered its own micro-region.  

Farming methods in the Yirgacheffe region remain largely traditional. Local farmers typically intercrop their coffee plants with other food crops, a common practice among smallholders because it maximises land use and provides food for their families. In addition to remaining traditionally intercropped, most farms are also organic-by-default. Farmers in Yirgacheffe typically use very few if any fertilisers or pesticides. Most farm work is done manually by the immediate family of these so-called ‘garden farmers’. 


The majority of coffees grown in Yirgacheffe are local landrace varieties, often referred to under the general term ‘heirloom’. Other varieties grown in the region were developed by the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre (JARC), an important research centre for Ethiopian coffee that has done a great deal of work on developing disease-resistant and high-yielding varieties that still demonstrate quality in the profile. 

This particular coffee is a mixed lot from various smallholder farmers, brought together to make a regional lot and showcase a general profile for the Yirgacheffe region. Farmers selectively handpick cherries and deliver them to the washing station station, at which employees visually inspect them. For the anaerobic fermentation lots such as this, they accept only fully ripe cherries. The selected cherries are tightly packed in GrainPro bags and sealed shut in an anaerobic (without oxygen) environment  for 18 to 24 hours. After fermentation, the cherries are carefully laid to dry in direct sunlight on raised beds, and turned frequently to promote even drying over 2-3 weeks.