The high altitude and the natural anaerobic process intersect to make a wild and vibrant cup, with plenty of tropical layers.
VERY SPECIAL
The Brew Crew VS subscription is about taking you through a very special journey, showcasing rare, refined and diverse approaches to coffee. This month’s delivery proves the point.
Aricha Anaerobic is the total opposite of last month’s feature. While Colombia Canta Ranas was highly subtle and delicate, this one is bold, punchy and full of character. So loud—and worthy of being included in our VS collection.
THE REVIVAL OF ARICHA
The Aricha Coffee Washing Station is located about 5km from Yirgacheffe—the capital of a district with the same name that is very well known for its coffee. In addition to an ideal climate and geography, the population has a strong connection with coffee production: here, it grows wild in the native forests, and families have been picking, selling and consuming it for centuries now.
Aricha was first established in 2000—back then, it was known as Adorsi. Despite ideal growing conditions, the management didn’t seem to take off; within a decade, the site was almost abandoned.
In 2018, Faysel Abdosh from Testi Coffee acquired the station to revive the area, bring back value to the community and showcase the fantastic coffee growing in its surroundings. While technically not a cooperative, it works as such; producers from the Aricha, Reko, Gersi and Naga Singache neighbourhoods bring their cherries in, and those get processed and sold independently under each name.
Aricha Coffee Station in 2018, when Testi just got it! Source: Testi Coffee’s Facebook page.
Since Testi took over, they’ve contributed to local projects (like building a school and bringing electricity to producers’ homes). Also, they have put Aricha coffee back on the map: in 2019, just one year after reviving the station, four of their coffees made The Ethiopian Cup.
(We actually had a washed lot of Aricha on 2020).
GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES
This lot features Ethiopian Hairloom, an umbrella term that refers to all the native sub-varietals growing wild in the Ethiopian forests. This area generally delivers Kurume and Wolisho, together with other disease-resistant landraces.
Although the Aricha neighbourhood is the lowest serving to the Aricha station—~1900 masl—, it’s still considered relatively high in terms of coffee growing.
The higher the altitude, the less oxygen is available; hence the plants and fruits take more time to grow and develop. Everything happens slower, and the cherries grow smaller, denser, and full of flavour. As a result, the profile is deep and extremely fruity.
Think about cherry tomatoes versus standard-sized ones in terms of flavour and mouthfeel; here, the altitude creates a parallel phenomenon.
NATURAL ANAEROBIC PROCESS
Similarly to previous VS features Ethiopia Jabanto Carbonic Maceration or Ecuador Terrazas del Pisque, this lot of Aricha features an anaerobic process component in which the cherries ferment in an oxygen-limited/controlled atmosphere.
For this lot, the cherries were immersed and floated in water tanks to remove the low-density (defective) ones. Then, the remaining cherries were placed in fully sealed, air-tight containers, regulated by one-way valves to limit no limit the oxygen intake. Here, the cherries fermented for 7 days until the pH level dropped to 3.8, bringing up a winey, rich and dry fruity profile.
Throughout this time, the fermentation tanks were placed in concrete water baths to maintain a constant temperature between 15 and 18 degrees Celsius, keeping the fermentation very slow. Also, it was homogenized by rotating or moving the tanks.
At the end of the 7th day, the fermented cherries were removed from the tanks and quickly sun-dried until achieving 35% humidity. Then, these were spread on elevated drying beds for 30 days until reaching a final 12% humidity. Finally, the beans were collected and stored in a dedicated warehouse for 4 weeks of resting time until the final bagging and importing.
BREW, SHARE AND ENJOY
Time to brew and have a good time (beware of our new recommended window! Check out any brewing notes below, add your own or talk to us via email/Instagram about tips and guidance. Enjoy!
All the images and information about this coffee and its producers have been kindly shared by the importer, Cafe Imports, and edited by us, Sample Coffee (unless linked to or credited otherwise). We have also learned a lot more from Trabocca Importers—well worth a visit for more deep info about Aricha!
