Orange blossom, blueberry, fig jam and dark chocolate
Region: Oromia, Guji, Shakisso, Dambio Uddo
Producer: Testi, Jigesa washing station
Elevation: 1850 MASL
Varietals: Kurume, Wolisho & JARC
Process: Washed
Special Notes: Organic farming processes, no use of pesticides
Located in the Shakisso woreda (administrative district) of Ethiopia’s Guji Zone, Jigesa is a bustling washing station owned and operated by Testi Specialty Coffee. As Testi’s first processing site, it marks the beginning of founder Faysel Abdosh’s dream of establishing a business that promoted the exceptional quality of the country’s coffee regions.
Having grown up in the renowned Harar coffee production area, Faysel began buying and selling the crop from farmers when he was still in high school. “Coffee is my life, that’s why,” Faysel told us when we asked him why he established Testi. “I love the coffee business. I love the countryside. I was born there, and so I love being around coffee farms.” When establishing Jigesa in 2015, Faysel and the company introduced meticulous practices at every step of production, from cherry delivery to drying and storing, which are still rigorously followed. During the harvest, Faysel spends most of his time where he is happiest, visiting the company’s washing stations on Ethiopia’s countryside.
During harvest, freshly picked coffee cherry is delivered daily by some 750 independent outgrowers from the nearby kebele of Dambi Uddo and collection points in Wese and Suke. Because Jigesa sits at 1,850 metres above sea level, it’s in a prime position to receive coffee cherries from farmers who grow coffee under perfect conditions.
Their farms typically sit at elevations of up to 2,050m above sea level, which combined with the region’s cool temperatures, is ideal for the slow ripening of coffee cherries, leading to denser beans and a sweeter, more complex cup profile. The majority of the families that contribute to this lot farm organically on tiny plots of land, which average just two to five hectares in size. Coffee is their main cash crop and grows alongside food crops of fake banana, corn and grain, under the shade of native Birbira, Wanza, and Acacia trees.
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