Huke Washed Premium
Intensely sweet and floral, with blackcurrant, blueberry and plum jam. Rich and complex, with a tea-like body.
This coffee is currently featured as one of our ‘Special Offers’.
Huke Washed was processed at a premium site with ripe cherry and excellent practices. The coffee has consistently presented complex florals and delicate stone fruit acidity in the cup, however, at our most recent cupping we found slight paperiness in the cup. We have discounted Huke Washed to cost price to more accurately reflect the current quality and think that with a more developed profile this coffee will excel as a floral and fruit-driven espresso or bold filter offering.
Huke is a privately-owned washing station that is located in the Yirgacheffe woreda (administrative district) in Ethiopia’s Gedeo zone. The washing station is found in the kebele (local village) of Bank Gotiti, and is one of twenty owned and managed by Testi Coffee, a family-owned company founded by Mr Faysel A. Yonis.
Sitting at 2,100m above sea level, Huke produces exceptional washed, natural and special preparation lots. The washing station is one of Testi’s newest, having only been built in 2021. It currently employs five permanent staff and between 150-200 seasonal workers. During harvest, freshly picked coffee cherry is delivered daily by some 250 independent outgrowers from the nearby kebeles of Bank Gotiti, Chelba, Chelchele and Chelbessai.
The majority of the families that contribute to this lot farm organically on tiny plots of land, which average between 2-4 hectares in size. Coffee is their main cash crop and grows alongside food crops of corn, grain and bananas, under the shade of native Birbira, Wanza, and Acacia trees. The average elevation of the farms in this region is very high – around 2,000–2,200m above sea level – and this, combined region’s cool temperatures, is ideal for the slow ripening of coffee cherries, leading to denser beans and a sweeter, more complex cup profile.
This ‘premium’ lot comes a group of 30-40 farmers who live within 5-7 kilometres of Huke washing station, whose crop grows under exceptionally prodigious conditions. The relatively small number of contributing out growers adds to the distinct cup quality of this lot.
This coffee lot was produced as part of Testi’s quality improvement initiative, Premium Cherry Selection (PCS). Launched in 2018, the Premium Cherry Selection program ensures that best practices are used for growing, harvesting and processing the coffee cherry. Through the program, Testi pay a premium to farmers who pick and deliver only the ripest cherries from their farms. Coffees produced as part of the program represent the highest quality and cleanest cup profile available from the washing station and wider region. Head here to learn more about Testi Coffee’s work in Ethiopia.
ABOUT THE GEDEO ZONE
The Gedeo Zone is located in southwest Ethiopia, in the SNNPR political region, and is named after the Gedeo people. Historically, coffee from Gedeo has been classified both as “Sidama” and “Yirgacheffe,” with the latter being its most famous coffee-growing woreda, and one of the country’s three trademarked region. With average temperatures between 15-18oC and healthy annual rainfalls, Gedeo is well-suited to coffee-growing. Most coffee is part of a family’s ‘coffee garden,’ and grows alongside other food crops in environments nearly free of fertilisers and pesticides. These lots grow in iron-rich, acidic soils and receive shade from native trees such as Cordia Africana, Acacia, and Ensete trees.
Gedeo is bordered on all sides by the Oromia political region, except for its north, where it is bordered by the Sidama political region. It includes well-known coffee-growing woredas such as Yirgacheffe, Kochere and Gedeb.
ABOUT THE SIDAMA COFFEE REGION
Historically, the Sidama coffee region refers to a wide geographical area encompassing much of central-south Ethiopia, that is well known for producing exceptional natural and washed coffees. The region is located in Ethiopia’s South East Coffee Zone, and includes renowned coffee-producing localities such as Yirgacheffe, Kochere, West Arsi, Bensa and Guji. After a 2019 Referendum, some of the territories within the Sidama coffee region formed an autonomous regional state. This coffee region now extends across the states of Sidama, Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region (SNNPR), three of eleven ethnically-based regional states of Ethiopia.
Coffees that are grown and processed in Sidama showcase an extremely diverse range of flavour profiles, and are noted for their intensely fruit-forward, tea-like, floral and complex character that is sought after worldwide. It is widely accepted that the coffee species, Arabica, originated in the lush forests of southern forests of Ethiopia and hence growing conditions in this area are perfectly suited for producing exquisite coffees.
The Sidama coffee region is named for the Sidama people, a tribe with a long and proud history of coffee production. Coffee has been here for centuries and is an important source of income for rural households, who grow it as the primary cash crop. Family plots are small and intensively farmed with intercropped coffee, food crops like pulses, grain and yams, and other cash crops like khat (similar to tobacco) and Ethiopian banana. Most farms are planted amongst or alongside indigenous forest trees, which provide a thick canopy of shade for the coffee trees. Historically, farmers in this area will use organic farming practices (although it is unlikely to be certified) as there is no ready access to artificial fertilisers or pesticides.
VARIETY
This coffee is mostly made up of the two dominant varieties in the region: local landrace Kurume and JARC 74110.
For many years, most Ethiopian coffees have been described as being a mix of cultivated and wild varieties, referred to as “heirloom varieties.” This is a term that is all-encompassing and used by many actors in the coffee industry to generally categorise Ethiopian coffee varieties that are from native forest origins. Whilst “heirloom” describes many of the varieties found in Ethiopia, it is also a bit simplistic and does not acknowledge the varieties that are already locally recognised and purposely cultivated, or those that have been specifically developed and widely distributed by the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre (JARC).
Sidama is home to many landrace varieties that were originally selected from the forest and have been propagated successfully for decades. There are five popular varieties that are named after indigenous trees in the area— Bedessa, Kurume, Mique, Sawe and Wolisho. There is little documentation on the history of these varieties, and it is hard to know if they represent a single plant or a wider group of varieties; however, it is widely accepted that they play a major role in the quality and floral flavour profile of the coffee from this region. JARC varieties were developed using “mother trees” from Ethiopia’s coffee forests, and are now grown for disease and pest resistance, as well as exceptional cup profile, and are released by number. For example, 74110, 74112 and 74116 are all widely propagated in the Sidama growing region.
PROCESSING
This coffee has been processed using the washed method, using clean water from the Mejo river. It is classified as Grade 1, the highest quality classification for Ethiopian coffees, indicating a great deal of effort has been put into the selection and grading during processing.
For this lot, carefully hand-picked coffee cherries were delivered to Huke washing station and were meticulously sorted by hand and in a floatation tank prior to processing to remove unripe, overripe, or damaged fruit, as this enhances the quality and sweetness of the cup.
After sorting, the coffee cherries are then pulped within six to eight hours of harvesting, to remove the fruit and skin and graded by weight; heavier beans are of superior quality and deliver a sweeter cup. After grading, the parchment-covered coffee is soaked in tanks of clean water for 48–72 hours to remove the mucilage (sticky fruit pulp) by allowing it to ferment and detach from the coffee.
The coffee is then re-washed and graded again by density in washing channels and soaked in clean water for 12 hours. While doing this, mill workers keep a close eye on the clarity of the water being used (and replacing it with fresh water as necessary), and check the parchment manually of feel how much mucilage is left on the beans. As the feeling of the washing changes, and millworkers notice slightly more traction, parchment is just about ready to be dried.
The coffee is then dried on raised African drying beds in the sun for up to three days, and then under a parabolic shade net for up to twelve days, depending on weather conditions. Whilst drying, the coffee is carefully hand-sorted, and any defects are removed. It is also turned regularly to ensure that it dries evenly and consistently. Once the coffee is dry and has reached its desired humidity, it is rested in parchment until it is ready for milling and export.
HOW THIS COFFEE WAS SOURCED
Since 2018, regulation changes within the Ethiopian coffee industry have allowed smallholder producers and coffee washing stations to export coffee directly to the international market, rather than through the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), a model called Vertical Integration. While the ECX has provided stability and opportunity for many Ethiopian coffee farmers, it does not service the specialty market well, as there is an inherent lack of transparency and traceability in its auction model, and more points for potential corruption or confusion between the producing communities and the final buyer.
Vertical Integration enables a more streamlined coffee supply chain and provides an opportunity for the increased traceability and transparency of coffee trade in Ethiopia. Beyond this, producers who market and trade their coffee directly can access higher prices and more direct payments for their coffees. All of the coffee we purchase in Ethiopia is bought outside of the ECX system.
This coffee was sourced through our on-the-ground Ethiopian supply partner, Sucafina Ethiopia, who help connect us to single estates, privately owned washing stations and quality-focused exporters in different regions of Ethiopia. Based in Addis Ababa, Sucafina Ethiopia work as a service provider connecting local farmers and exporters (colloquially known as ‘shippers’) with international buyers like MCM. By Ethiopian law, they (and other foreign-owned entities) are not permitted to buy cherries directly, or to own washing stations or mills; however, their expertise is invaluable in coordinating multiple shippers, ensuring quality standards are met and handling all logistics in the preparation and local transport of our coffees. Through our shared commitment to responsible sourcing practices, quality and traceability, we have been connected to likeminded shippers, like Testi, who work to produce delicious and consistent coffees while running social programs that directly and meaningfully support coffee farmers and their families.
WHY WE LOVE IT
The word “testi” means happiness in the Harrari language, which is fitting as their coffees make us very happy! Huke Washed Premium is a fine example of the distinctive and unique nature of coffee produced in the Yirgacheffe region. In the cup, it is rich and complex, with intense sweetness, plum jam sweetness and an elegant black tea finish.
