Ethiopia Guji Dambi Uddo

This is not your regular coffee.  It is best served as a pour-over using an Aeropress, Kalita or V60 brewing devise. The Guji is floral, herbal and provides typical citrus notes but with a lovely jammy mouth-feel. Its best served black and releases more sweetness and fruit as it cools. It also makes a refreshing cold brew when served over ice.

The Guji zone is a well-known area in the south of Ethiopia, located between the areas of Borena and Bale. The region grows some of the highest coffee in Ethiopia.  This coffee comes from the surroundings of the “Dambi Uddo” plantation (which is also the name of a huge tree in the wild forest of Shakiso, in the region of Guji).

The Dambi Uddo plantation is an agro-forestry system, where the coffee production mingles with complementary productions such as honey or wood.  The plantation owner and farmer, Wadessa Yachisa, has received several awards for the quality of his coffees. The coffees are naturally processed and dried on African beds.

The trees at this plantation are not only used for their shade, but belong to a productive agroforestry system that is beneficial in many ways:

– From an agronomic point of view, the trees help prevent further soil erosion, and give better resistance to scorching heat from the sun.

– Economically speaking, the production of other cultures in this coffee forest system allows the production of honey, ginger and even firewood.

– Lastly, agroforestry is a really good way to preserve biodiversity. With an average of 10 to 15 species of trees by forest in the well preserved zones, these coffee forests help preserve biodiversity.

It is most certainly the wages linked to the coffee production that make this agroforestry model possible. The coffee production financially supports these forests and pays attention to the preservation of their diversified ecosystem, with a rich fauna and flora