This coffee makes it again to the VS line-up for obvious reasons: a perfect execution, a complex fermentation process and a delectable cup presence. Very Special indeed.
VERY SPECIAL
Jabanto anaerobic washed was featured for the first time in our VS delivery for December 2021—just over a year ago. We’ve selected it again because it’s still an impeccable coffee and serves as a great tasting exercise when comparing it to Aricha, shared just a few weeks ago and which flavour may still be alive in your mind.
Both lots have gone through an anaerobic fermentation process. However, they’ve been approached differently: Aricha, an anaerobic natural (a.k.a. carbonic maceration), was wild, crazy, and loud; Jabanto, an anaerobic washed, is modest, contained and classy, yet still somewhat reminding us of ripe fruit.
Both are very distinct, very delicious, and Very Special.
BISHARI VARIETAL
After a devastating coffee-berry disease epidemic in the 60s, the Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC) started a research project to identify endemic, regional Heirloom varietals. The goal was to catalogue the diversity of Ethiopia’s arabica coffee genetics according to their performance, resilience, yield and other important properties. It would also build a specimen bank to use within the farming community according to the local circumstances.
Around Bishari, a small village in the southwestern region, many coffee trees seemed to perform well against disease, produce a decent yield and deliver interesting flavours. These were known for their smaller coffee leaves, smaller coffee cherries and beans, short canopy, and compact and persistent calyx. So, in 1974, the JARC collected seeds to use as breeders and classified them as Bishari.
Within this category, other sub-varietals share specific traits or genetics and are re-classified by their own name. For example, the Kurume varietal (known as such within the Guji area and as Kudhume within Yirgacheffe).
ANAEROBIC WASHED VS. ANAEROBIC NATURAL
Anaerobic means “without oxygen”. During this process, the coffee cherries ferment inside sealed vessels where the oxygen input is prevented or controlled. The low presence of this gas (it’s never really 0%, but close) limits the participation of microbes, facilitating a distinct range of bright and fruity hints.
The difference between the anaerobic washed and anaerobic natural processes lies in how the cherries go into the fermenting tank.
In the anaerobic natural, the cherries are placed along with their skin and pulp—whether crushed or intact. This method is technically the same as carbonic maceration, but different importers and producers will call it differently according to their conventions.
In the anaerobic washed, the cherries are placed without their skin and pulp—the stage of removing them is commonly known as depulping.
DEEP IN THE DETAILS
After the cherries have been picked and sorted, they are pulped (leaving their mucilage intact) and placed in the fermentation tanks for about 60 hours.
The Jabanto members built a few for this purpose. A valve on the side of the tank is connected to a thin hose, which helps remove any CO2 generated during fermentation. The other end of the hose is inserted into a bottle and submerged underwater, stopping any oxygen from coming into the sealed tank atmosphere. It sounds complex, but it’s relatively simple and easy to achieve; here’s a picture:
When the anaerobic fermentation process is finished, the beans go through a drying stage on raised bed drying for 6-8 days until their moisture level reaches 10.5%, similarly to traditional fully washed process methods. To maintain uniform drying among beans, the parchment coffee is set under the sun for two hours between 8:00 and 10:00 AM. During the hottest hours of the day, the parchment coffee is covered with nylon mesh and plastic between 11:00AM and 3:00 PM. Then, the parchment coffee is uncovered for another two hours between 3:00 PM-5:00 PM.
BREW, SHARE AND ENJOY
Time to brew and have a good time (beware of our new recommended window!). Check out any brewing notes below, and add your own—and don’t forget to ask us anything via email/Instagram. Enjoy!
All the images and information about this coffee and its producers have been kindly shared by the importer, Condesa CoLab, and edited by us, Sample Coffee (unless linked to or credited otherwise).
