Ethiopia Suke Mossto Fermentation إثيوبيا سوكي تخمير لاهوائي

This exceptional coffee was dry milled and exported by Primrose, PLC. The coffee was grown by smallholder farmers living around the microregions of Tobutu, Gomoro, and Suke in Oromia, Guji.

100% organic, though not certified, as farmers simply don’t have the money to apply chemical fertilisers, pesticides, or herbicides. Primrose ensures that there are agricultural officers who work closely with each farmer to ensure the fertility of the farmland. In fact, soon the wet mill and surrounding farmers will also be RFA and UTZ certified.

Primrose pays more than the market price for a kilogram of red cherry, and those farmers that bring quality red cherry are paid a cash incentive, ensuring higher-than-average overall quality.

Coffee is selectively hand-picked before being delivered to the mill collection points, usually within 5 km of the producers’ homes. Great care is taken upon delivery to separate out any overripe, underripe or damaged beans before consolidating with other lots for the road to the wet mill.

This lot underwent the Mossto Fermentation process which began after the ripe cherries were carefully harvested and delivered to the mill. Once at the mill, the cherries are sorted and then placed in tanks to undergo fermentation. After this initial fermentation, a second fermentation is initiated, adding in the liquid/juice from the coffee cherries, also known as Mossto, to enhance the development of the sugars in the coffee. After this second fermentation is complete, the cherries are dispersed on raised beds to dry in the open sun. Moisture levels are constantly checked to ensure an even drying of the coffee. Once the desired moisture content is reached, the coffee is collected and sent to the dry mill.

The dry mill is located in the capital city of Addis Ababa where the coffee is cleaned to remove foreign matter and prepared for hulling. Exterior parchment and silver skin are removed with the assistance of a huller and polisher. The coffee is then sent through a grader to separate coffee by screen size, and a gravity separator removes all broken coffee pieces to ensure quality.