Story
This offering represents one of our longest green buying relationships. We’ve been consistently purchasing from Suke Quto every season since 2013! Nestled in the highlands of the Odo Shakiso woreda, the Suke Quto Farm is a totally wild, organic treasure chest of regional landraces. These old varieties, Kurume and Wolisho, were originally selected from the forest and have been propagated for decades throughout Gedeo and Guji. Overseeing the entire operation is Tesfaye Bekele - an agronomist, horticulture specialist, environmentalist, and visionary.
In 1998, a massive wildfire destroyed nearly 5,000 acres of land throughout Odo Shakiso and three other nearby woredas. Out of a desire to preserve the forest and save it from transforming into a new mining operation, Tesfaye took it upon himself to distribute coffee and shade tree seedlings to a dedicated group of 170 outgrowers. Together they were able to start regrowing the area of forest that surrounds the Suke Quto Farm. With this, Tesfaye was able to accomplish his dream of developing environmentally friendly coffee and sustaining the local community with a reliable income. The Suke Quto Farm is fully organic, with never any chemical fertilizer or pesticide use. The canopy cover from shade trees is nearly 60% - coffee plants here grow extremely tall and slow. Tesfaye never ceases to inspire, with his focus on ecological conversation, clear desire to produce high quality coffee, and deep philosophical wisdom. In his words: “We are not only buying the coffee. We are protecting the forest and buying the nature”.
Suke Quto Farm and processing station both exhibit an extreme attention to detail, and the results are stunning each season. A clean mouthfeel allows soft floral and ripe fruit flavors to shine - think orange blossom, dried apricot, and nectarine. Meanwhile, a lingering dark honey and vanilla sweetness balances out the flavors, transforming them into a silky citrus marmalade. It’s a perfect representation of coffee from the Guji region, and a beautiful gateway into the more fruit-forward, complex coffees we purchase from Ethiopia. We’re tasting: dried apricot, nectarine, peach, rooibos tea, earl grey tea, jasmine, orange blossom, vanilla, honey, biscoff cookie.
Ethiopia Suke Quto
Ethiopia Suke Quto
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Characteristics
Medium Light
Elegant
Bright
Earl Grey, Dried Fruit, Honey, Elegant
Smallholder Farms
Tesfaye Bekele & 170 Smallholder Farmers
Kurume, Wolisho
Washed
Odo Shakiso, Guji, Ethiopia
Story
This offering represents one of our longest green buying relationships. We’ve been consistently purchasing from Suke Quto every season since 2013! Nestled in the highlands of the Odo Shakiso woreda, the Suke Quto Farm is a totally wild, organic treasure chest of regional landraces. These old varieties, Kurume and Wolisho, were originally selected from the forest and have been propagated for decades throughout Gedeo and Guji. Overseeing the entire operation is Tesfaye Bekele - an agronomist, horticulture specialist, environmentalist, and visionary.
In 1998, a massive wildfire destroyed nearly 5,000 acres of land throughout Odo Shakiso and three other nearby woredas. Out of a desire to preserve the forest and save it from transforming into a new mining operation, Tesfaye took it upon himself to distribute coffee and shade tree seedlings to a dedicated group of 170 outgrowers. Together they were able to start regrowing the area of forest that surrounds the Suke Quto Farm. With this, Tesfaye was able to accomplish his dream of developing environmentally friendly coffee and sustaining the local community with a reliable income. The Suke Quto Farm is fully organic, with never any chemical fertilizer or pesticide use. The canopy cover from shade trees is nearly 60% - coffee plants here grow extremely tall and slow. Tesfaye never ceases to inspire, with his focus on ecological conversation, clear desire to produce high quality coffee, and deep philosophical wisdom. In his words: “We are not only buying the coffee. We are protecting the forest and buying the nature”.
Suke Quto Farm and processing station both exhibit an extreme attention to detail, and the results are stunning each season. A clean mouthfeel allows soft floral and ripe fruit flavors to shine - think orange blossom, dried apricot, and nectarine. Meanwhile, a lingering dark honey and vanilla sweetness balances out the flavors, transforming them into a silky citrus marmalade. It’s a perfect representation of coffee from the Guji region, and a beautiful gateway into the more fruit-forward, complex coffees we purchase from Ethiopia. We’re tasting: dried apricot, nectarine, peach, rooibos tea, earl grey tea, jasmine, orange blossom, vanilla, honey, biscoff cookie.
