ETHIOPIA YIRGACHEFFE COFFEE No coffee story will ever be complete without mentioning the legend of dancing goats in Ethiopia. Ethiopia was believed to be the first country to discover coffee in the early 1300’s. Legend has it that while a goat herder named Kaldi was watching over his herd in the high plateaus of Ethiopia, he was surprised by the way the goats were acting. They were dancing on their hind legs and they were doing it with gusto. He then discovered that his herd indulged on these bright cherry red berries and curiously, Kaldi tasted the cherries himself. His mind felt alert and his sleepy eyes became wide open. In his excitement he went down to the townsfolk to tell his story. The monks tried the cherries themselves by steeping them like tea. They found it an effective beverage to keep them awake during the night prayers. Soon they found better ways to enjoy the beverage, by roasting and then the rest is history, so to speak.
It all started in Ethiopia and now coffee has become the second, number one is oil, largest trade commodity in the whole world. So you may ask, how is the coffee industry in Ethiopia now? For one, Ethiopia has become the second largest producer of coffee within Africa and the 7th in the whole world. Ethiopia has Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Limmu coffee to share with the world. Ethiopians call coffee “Bun” of “Buni”. This bun, the Arabica coffee trees, were first discovered in the Harar region but later it was found growing thick and wild in the region of Kaffa. The district of Yirgacheffe produces some most exotic tasting coffees in Africa. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee has its own unique distinct taste as compared to the other Ethiopian coffees. It is ranked among the best coffee produced in Africa because of its soft, medium to full body, fragrant, rich smooth chocolate with hint of sweet and flowery taste that lingers. By tradition, Yirgacheffe is grown the organic way. There are over 12 million coffee workers in Ethiopia working under 19,000 state farms and 331,130 peasant farms. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee is either processed dry or washed. Washed processed coffee beans are found to be lighter bodied, less earthly and overall better tasting. Dry processed buns are usually affected by poor weather patterns. In general, the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee is generally the most exotic coffee in Africa. |
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