Countless heirloom varieties are grown in semi-forest areas near the river Hamile. The soil is rich, loamy and brown. Harvesting time is between November and January. In combination with the microclimate and an annual rainfall of more than 1,700mm, extensive maturity duration and the natural process brings a sweet, floral, rich, silky and balanced cup.

Coffees like this one located in Southern Ethiopia are produced from distinctive traditional Ethiopian varieties of Arabica long grown in the region. Like virtually all southern Ethiopia coffees, this coffee is produced by villagers on small garden plots interplanted with food and other subsistence crops. This is a dry-processed or “natural” coffee, meaning the beans were dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed, as is the case with wet-processed or “washed” coffees.

This coffee is a strictly high grown washed Bourbon variety coffee from the Santa Julia and La Joya farms in the Apaneca - Ilamatepec sub-region of Santa Ana in El Salvador. 

Together these farms harvest just over 90 hectares of land and range in altitude from 1300 - 1558 masl. Santa Julia, the larger of the two farms at 88 hectares, is owned by Producer Haydee Alvarez and his family. The farm has been in the family since its establishment in 1888. La Joya is owned by producer Ignacio Fernandez and harvests around 14 hectares. 

Coffee from both of these contributing farms are fully washed and sun dried in traditional clay patios. 

Ethiopia is coffee’s Mecca. The Arabica species traces its origin to the western edges of the country. Ethiopia is the rare producing nation whose internal consumption equals its export volume. In Ethiopia, coffee is not just a product, not a mere cash crop, not even a simple breakfast beverage – it is a way of life.

This blend melds the thrilling, complex flavor profiles found throughout Ethiopia into a balanced melting pot. Ripe blackberry and blueberry notes from immaculate dry-processed coffees meet the candy sweetness, bright citrus, and nuanced floral flavors intrinsic in washed coffees grown in regions like Sidama and Yirgacheffe. Ethiopia’s indigenous heirloom cultivars, its ideal terroir, and its unparalleled history give its coffees a mystique, a je ne sais quoi, that set them apart, a category unto themselves.