This lot is named after the Kabira washing station, built in 2020. The coffees processed at this station mostly processes naturals as it has more space for drying beds than nearby Beshasha.
Both washing stations are owned by small-holder Mustefa Abakeno and are used to process his own coffee and that of his neighbours in near Agaro in the Jimma Zone of Western Ethiopia. His farm is located at 2,040 metres above sea level (masl) and is planted with coffee varieties from the Jimma research centre. Mustefa has a small disc pulper that he uses to wash-process half of his coffee; the other half is dried as a natural. Due to a lack of water in the area and limited space to ferment the coffee, Mustefa ferments the pulped coffee for a short period (8 hours) before he moves it to his drying beds (for 13-16 days), and the result is something like a light honey. The naturals take 24-27 days to dry on the African (raised) beds.
Mustefa only registered as an exporter in 2018 in order to sell his coffee directly to buyers, which he was able to do after changes to the regulations that year. Mustefa has been working with agronomist Harun, hired by our importer Falcon Coffees. Harun’s primary focus during this last harvest has been to train and support Mustefa and the local farmers that bring their cherries to the washing station. Harun has been improving processes at the washing station: installing shade netting to cover drying beds during the hottest hours of the day; instigating cherry selection at the delivery point; tagging day lots in order to keep them separate and monitor moisture content throughout the drying phase, ensuring even drying before the lots are assembled.
Mustefa has a small field lab and in 2020 he bought a high-spec Sinar moisture reader to ensure that all the parchment dried in the stations was reaching the same moisture level before being stored in the warehouse. Harun has been assessing and grading the dried day-lots, putting them together based on quality and cupping profile. He is currently training farmers in good agricultural practices (GAP) in order to improve the quality and productivity of their coffee gardens.
All of this helps to improve the quality of the coffee produced, ensuring that small-holders earn more money.
