Tandem Coffee Roasters Shakiso (GREEN)

Despite what you may hear during the holiday season, the arrival of fresh crop Ethiopia truly is the most wonderful time of year. We’re fortunate to get an early jump on our season by working with Cafe Imports who brought in a really lovely coffee from Kayon Mountain Farm in Shakiso, Guji. This 500 hectare farm (nearly 2 square miles) is operated by Ismael Hassen Aredo and his family, and they employ 25 fulltime workers and up to 300 seasonal pickers. Shakiso is also a mining town, two of the largest mines being gold and tantalum, but Ismael pays the pickers higher wages to incentivize them coming back each year. Once the coffee is brought in, it’s depulped the same day and left to ferment for up to 36 hours before being washed and dried on raised beds. We were really pleased with this coffee and its tropical fruit notes, plus the peach ring sweetness and tea-like qualities we can’t get enough of from Guji.