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Jim Munson
Dallis Bros. Coffee
2ND ECAFE Gold International Competition for Ethiopian Cooperative Coffees Concludes with 27 Lots Selected for Auction
A jury of distinguished international judges at the 2ND annual ECAFE Gold Ethiopian Cooperative Coffees Competition has selected 27 winning coffee lots, which will be available through an internet auction in May. The auction will include 12 rarely offered grade one washed coffees from the Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Tepi regions. Particularly unique in this auction are the 15 specially selected and processed unwashed varieties from the Yirgacheffe, Jimma and Sidamo regions. “This second ECAFE Gold competition has again proven that natural coffees from Ethiopia present exemplary flavor profiles rarely found in other coffee origins,” comments Willem Boot, co-founder of ECAFE Foundation.
The second ECAFE Gold competition was organized with the support of ACDI VOCA, USAID and the Central Liquoring Unit in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.
ECAFE Foundation and representatives from the Ethiopian Cooperative Coffee Unions celebrated at an award ceremony on Saturday, held at the cupping facilities of the Central Liquoring Quality Center in Addis Ababa. Abraham Bageshaw, head of the Central Liquoring Unit said, “During this second ECAFE Gold competition, a total of 66 finalist coffees were cupped. Of each auction coffee lot, at least 35 cups were evaluated and tasted by the international jury.”
For the second year around, the highest scoring finalist coffee in the washed category was the coffee submitted by Kello Cooperative of the Yirgacheffe Union. Kello’s washed coffee exhibited elegant berry and lemon flavors with lingering floral notes, delicate acidity, and velvety texture.
In the sundried-unwashed category, the Yirgacheffe coffee entered by the Homa Cooperative of the Yirgacheffe Union was noted for its aroma of fresh flowers and berries, silky oily texture and floral end notes with lemon, fully ripened mango and vanilla.
“The exemplary, sweet flavors of these natural coffees impressed our entire jury; we experienced the breakthrough of a new trend in Ethiopian specialty coffee,” says Willem Boot, head judge of the competition.
Immediately following the award ceremony, members of ECAFE Foundation and the international jury will travel to the Yirgacheffe and Sidamo regions to present awards to several of the highest ranking cooperatives in the competition.
Preparations for the ECAFE competition began six months before the competition when participating cooperative farmers committed to specially select and carefully process a small lot of their finest coffee. Perfect husbandry, meticulous selection and harvesting, and careful drying on raised drying beds clearly contributed to the success of the winning coffees. The Ethiopian farmers welcomed ECAFE’s recognition of their expertise and devoted attention to exemplary quality.
Various award winning coffees offered through the auction will carry Organic and Fair Trade Certifications. Of the 27 auction finalists, 10 lots are Certified Organic and 7 lots are Certified Fair Trade Organic.
For information on pre-registration and samples for the upcoming auction of ECAFE Gold Ethiopian Cooperative Coffees, please click here. |
