Rachia | Ethiopia

TL;DR: Nope, we didn’t go dyslexic this time (it’s happened before) this is RACHIA not ARICHA… Although it’s from the same area, it offers a different collection of delicious flavours!

 

We’ll be honest, we don’t have a whole lot of information about this coffee. We know it’s come to us via a good source, and we know everyone was paid fairly along the chain, but the reality of coffee in Ethiopia sometimes is that there isn’t a whole lot of story to tell. You’ll be happy knowing this coffee supports a lot of families, and is really delicious, so everyone is winning.

 

This lot is sourced from more than 450 farmers living in the Yirgacheffe, Aricha district. Farmers deliver ripe cherries to the Gizat washing station, where they are sorted into grades using density channels, fermented for 36-72 hours, washed, floated for defects, and then sent to raised drying tables for 8-15 days or until desired moisture content is reached (11.5%).

 

These African raised beds are carefully constructed to ensure proper air circulation and temperature control for optimal, steady drying. Cherries are also turned regularly to prevent damage via over-fermentation and/ or mould growth.

The cherries are stored at a local warehouse after the moisture is recorded at 11.5- 12%, then further processed (colour, density and screen size sorted) and milled ready for export.

 

We’ve kept things light and spritz-y here. Aiming to focus on and highlight the sparkling acidity and complex fruit acidity. It offers a great contrast to our natural coffees from Ethiopia this season, so make sure you try them all!

We prefer our filter brews from a v60, but we won’t judge for use of anything at all to make yourself a coffee - even a (clean) sock.

 

Our recommended ratio when brewing filter coffee is 60g of coffee per litre of water. Simply scale this down, or up, for your desired size of brew.

 

With all methods, you’ll want: a grind size similar to granulated sugar, boiling water, and about 3 minutes of brewing time. This goes for v60, aeropress, plunger, and the (still hopefully clean) sock.

 

Our favourite recipe for v60:

• 20g of medium to coarsely ground coffee, it’ll feel a little like granulated sugar.
• Set your kettle to boil, and ready your socks to be rocked.
• We use a 60g bloom, with a swirl of the slurry to make sure it’s all wet. You can stir of that’s easier, just don’t rip the paper!
• After that, when your timer is at 45 seconds, add more water to a total of 200g, and swirl gently.
• Then finally at 1:15 on your timer, add the rest of your water, to 330g, and do one last little swirl.
• Wait till it drains through, roughly 3:30 is a good time, pour into your favourite mug, and let those socks be rocked.

 

If you’d like more info or tips, get in touch! hello@coreroasters.cc