Ethiopia — Duwancho Washing Station 74110 & 74158 Blend (Washed / Anaerobic Honey)

Tastes Like — 🍑 Peach Iced Tea • 🍋 Raspberry Lemonade • 🍷 New World Wine

DETAILS

• Producer: Smallholders in Arbegona (Catalyst Trade, Faysel Abdosh)
• Washing Station: Duwancho
• Region: Arbegona, Sidama, Ethiopia
• Varietal: 74110 & 74158
• Process: 60% Anaerobic Honey / 40% Washed
• Elevation: 2,150–2,300 masl

INTRO The Arbegona district of Sidama sits at one of the highest coffee-growing elevations in Ethiopia — high altitude and lower temperatures slow cherry ripening, producing sweet, bright, sought-after profiles. Nearly everything about this coffee moved at that same slower pace, including its extended stay at Duwancho, one of the highest washing stations in the world. Complex and ever-shifting, fresh and lightly floral at first sip, fruited and structured like new world wine by the last. In the cup: peach iced tea, raspberry lemonade, and new world wine.

THE PRODUCER The Duwancho washing station is operated in partnership with Catalyst Trade and its owner, Mr. Faysel Abdosh. Beyond running the station, Mr. Abdosh is an activist and philanthropist who has made it his life's work to raise awareness of the obstacles facing coffee growers and communities throughout Ethiopia — efforts that continue to make a real difference for rural farmers, workers, and communities across the country.

THE PROCESS This coffee is a blend of two lots from Duwancho. The Anaerobic Honey component (60%) is handpicked, floated, pulped with a precise amount of mucilage retained, sorted for density, then undergoes 36 hours of underwater fermentation before drying on raised beds for 10-14 days. The Washed component (40%) is handpicked, sorted, pulped, and thoroughly rinsed, submerged for a short underwater fermentation, then rinsed again to remove all mucilage before the same raised-bed drying.

The 60/40 anaerobic honey-to-washed blend ratio is the defining structure here — it's what builds the cup's shifting complexity, layering fruited, wine-like depth from the honey lot over the clean structure of the washed component.

THE CUP Complex and ever-shifting — fresh and lightly floral at first sip, fruited and structured like new world wine by the last. Clean overall, with a subtle funk that can be turned up or down depending on brew recipe, reminiscent of peach iced tea and raspberry lemonade.

Flavour Notes 🍑 Peach Iced Tea 🍋 Raspberry Lemonade 🍷 New World Wine