Winter 2021 Allocation - Ethiopia Testi Ayla Bombe Winey Fermentation

PRESS ALLOCATION coffees are some of the rarest and most unique available. This exclusive Ethiopian coffee is produced using a labor-intense process extracting all the fruit has to offer.

The coffee cherries are meticulously sorted and sealed in grainpro bags for 6 days, then placed on drying beds for 21 days as part of the natural Bombe Winey Anaerobic Fermentation process, bringing out flavors unlike any other coffee. The oxygen-deprived “anaerobic” fermentation process generates a tanginess with flavors of watermelon candy, bubblegum, golden grape, and milk chocolate. These notes create an extraordinarily fun coffee with fruit flavors you don't want to miss.

Watermelon is such a rare flavor note to find in coffee. The process to produce this extraordinary coffee exposes notes of watermelon candy. The aftertaste this flavor leaves is easily one of the most stand-out flavors we've experienced from a roast. Another significant tasting note that caught our attention is bubblegum. There are so many volatile and non-volatile chemical compounds in the coffee bean. The combination of them along with natural sugars and acids create a stand-out sweetness followed by a mouthfeel and texture of sweet bubblegum, a very rare find in coffee.

Farm and Process

The Testi Ayla washing station is a small community in eastern Sidama, located in Shenta Wene, which consists of 1000 farmers, some have only 2 hectares of growing coffee land and the highest know elevation in a whole Sidama, letting coffee grow in the most ideal for its settings. Testi Ayla is known for its incredible fermentation process practices, constantly evolving and trying new experiments with coffee. It involves dedicating a part of the harvest to micro-processing, which requires extra hard work and labor, as well as involving more people through the supply chain to ensure that the quality doesn't get lost by any storage or transportation factors.

This lot is a standard natural process with one minor but labor-intensive factor: after sorting and floating, the only fresh coffee cherry is placed into a hermetic plastic GrainPro bag and tied shut, where it is allowed to speed-ripen for five full days before drying. This method, which Faysel calls the “winey” process due to the additional wine-like volatiles and acids present in the final cup, is an attempt to maximize the ripening of available sugars in the fruit for absorption to the seed inside. It is a constant chore of maintaining temperature stability so the extreme environment inside the bag doesn’t spoil the cherry, and as such often involves moving the bags in and out of the direct sun around the clock. Once cured, the softened and fragrant coffee cherries are taken directly to raised beds under shade for a very gradual drying process of almost three weeks.

About Green:

The green coffee analyses revealed excellent green coffee metrics with a pleasant intense fruity aroma, with exception of a moderate density, slightly lower than our usual single-origin Ethiopia selection. The variety used here is called Kurume ("Kudhume" in Guji) is well known for landrace as farmers use it traditionally for cultivation in the Gedeio and Guji areas, not researches. We were able to contract 2 bags (60 KG total) of this delicious coffee from 5 bags total available through Royal Coffee, as Royal Coffee took the matters to the next level, investing and supporting the farm through the last couple of years without any attempt to change traditional Ethiopia practices in growing coffee. It means a world to us to be able to support and enjoy coffees from Testi Ayla washing station, knowing how much change can the support make to the farmers.

About Taste:

This Sidamo is incredible fun coffee to brew, the aroma of the coffee is fruit-forward and it almost smells like there is a glass of red wine in front of you. The best part comes in taste, this anaerobic fermentation coffee has a very traditional clean body of milk chocolate candy bar and insane fruit notes that are all over the board, from yellow to red fruits, we were able to pick up notes such as watermelon candy, bubblegum, golden grape, pink grapefruit, dried apricot, juniper berry, honeydew, vanilla, followed by the juicy, balanced, silky and syrupy cup with an incredible aftertaste of sweet watermelon that makes you want to take another sip. Even drinking a cup of water after enjoying the cup of Sidamo feels like drinking watermelon water with all the oils that stay on the tongue.

Brew Recommendation