This coffee is nurtured in the lush mountains of the Yirgacheffe growing region in a remote community called Adado. Traditionally, all coffees exported as Yirgachaffe have been fully washed, processed beans, a method which leads to a very clean and lighter-bodied Yirgy with bright citrus notes and floral, tea-like characteristics.

When we visited Adado in 2005, we knew this microclimate had something special: extremely high elevation, tons of shade and, most importantly, motivated farmers who wanted to once again grow and process their own coffees. Their washing station had been in disrepair for a decade, forcing the farmers to sell their coffee cherries to private millers for a small return or—in some cases—simply letting the cherries rot on the trees for lack of a buyer.

With our promise to buy the resulting production, the farmers tried a new strategy with last year’s crop: They naturally sun-dried all of their coffees. With this method, the cherries are laid out on elevated drying beds and allowed to raisin right on the beans before being removed. The end result was a coffee with a cornucopia of fruit flavors in the cup; it became our fastest-selling Special Reserve coffee to date.

Our donation helped with the purchase of new sun-drying beds, construction of a new warehouse and rebuilding of the washing station. These improvements to the infrastructure allow the growers in the area not only to continue producing great natural-process coffees, but also to expand their production into washed methods as well—and all of this in their own community mill, which greatly increases their volume and direct income.