Join us on our adventure to the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia, where we see what’s happening in the “off-season.” A time where the harvest may be finished, but the work never ceases.
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Behind the Beans: Guatemala La Armonia Hermosa
Nestled high along a fertile volcano, overlooking the Antigua Valley, Santa Maria de Jesus is an idyllic home to the finest Guatemalan coffee. The small, family farmers of this village have historically struggled to make a living growing this high quality coffee. Now with La Armonia Hermosa, things are different. Farmers receive higher prices through increased quality, marketability and relationship to their buyers.
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Asnakech Thomas, owner of Amaro Gayo
Amaro Gayo and One of Ethiopia's Only Female Coffee Exporters
This month we have the pleasure of having Ethiopia Amaro Gayo as our featured coffee. So what better time to tell you about the incredible farm, and equally incredible woman that this coffee comes from.
This coffee comes from a farm in the Amaro Mountains of Ethiopia. The area is full of waterfalls, bamboo forests, and local coffee varietals. Nestled between a National Park and tribal land, the farm is unique and beautiful. This land is the home of one of Ethiopia’s only female coffee millers and exporters, Asnakech Thomas, who returned to Amaro in 2005 to improve the quality of coffee and the living conditions of her home region. Through her farm she helps provide medical assistance, jobs, and schooling to her community.
Asnakech’s farm is unique in that the coffee is harvested, sorted, and milled all on-site, which gives her extraordinary control over the quality of the coffee. She only accepts the highest quality coffee cherries at the peak of freshness. Her cherries are then dried on raised beds to create a cleaner coffee by removing contact with the ground soil. These beds also help the coffee dry evenly on all sides, resulting in a more consistent flavor and quality.
Aside from running and incredible farm and coffee mill, she also helped found an advocacy program for other female coffee growers called the EWiC (Ethiopian Women in Coffee Association). This group helps fight for women at an economic disadvantage that may not be getting recognized for their role in the coffee community. The organization also helps provide training and networking for these female producers.
“Our hostess, Asnakech Thomas is a force of nature. Her Estate in the Sidamo region produces some of the finest semi-washed coffees you will find and she is a delight. Organic and local to her core, her influence on coffees in the region reaches well beyond her own estate.” - John Clark on his 2015 Origin Trip
Asnakech has overcome and powered through every challenge (including a literal war on her farm) to keep providing great coffee to the world and better lives for those in her community. It is our honor to get to roast and serve up her crops and we hope you taste every ounce of her hard work and ambition in every drop.
Featured Coffee: Guatemala Finca San Jeronimo
Finca San Jeronimo
We have had the privilege of working with this wonderful family and their workers since 2013 while visiting their farm in Atitlan, Guatemala. With pristine facilities and their passion for sustainability and research, their farm is a site to see! Not only do they produce our delicious San Jeronimo coffee, but they are also a dairy farm that makes cheese sold throughout Guatemala. Take a peek through our photos and see just a taste of what this farm has to offer.
We also encourage you to buy a bag today and taste this coffee with notes of Black Tea, Dark Chocolate, and Caramel. You can also follow them on instagram. They often post great photos from their farm.
We work with great farms like Finca San Jeronimo Miramar in Atitlan, Guatemala. Check out how the coffee beans go from a plant to our roasting facility.