Specialty coffee from Ethiopia

Ethiopia is where arabica coffee began evolving, at least 600,000 years ago according to a 2024 Nature Genetics study. The Gedeo agroforestry zone (67,164 ha) was inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 2023, an active agricultural system where 644,000 people cultivate coffee under acacia and enset trees. Between 6,000 and 15,000 distinct arabica varieties grow here, a genetic diversity that exists nowhere else on earth.

The jasmine note in washed Ethiopian coffees comes from linalool, a terpene alcohol present in higher concentrations in Heirloom varieties than in any commercial arabica cultivar. A 2021 Cup of Excellence lot from Gedeo scored 88.06 under blind multi-panel evaluation. Guido carries Ethiopian lots from Gedeo and Agaro, washed and natural, each identified to the processing station.