Helm Coffee Roasters - Habtamu Fikadu Washed 74110, 74112 | Ethiopia

Ethiopia — Habtamu Fikadu Aga Chelbesa Washing Station 74110 & 74112 (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍈 Pomegranate • 🍑 White Peach • 🍋 Makrut Lime • 🌼 Honeysuckle

DETAILS

• Producer: Habtamu Fikadu Aga (Kuri Mountain Coffee)
• Washing Station: Chelbesa
• Region: Guji, Ethiopia
• Varietal: 74110 & 74112
• Process: Washed
• Elevation: 2,000 masl

INTRO Traceable to 140 smallholders around the Chelbesa washing station in Guji, farming at 2,000 meters and above. Honeysuckle opens the cup, a white floral lift there before you even sip. Juicy and bright: pomegranate's tart red-fruit sparkle up front, white peach carrying sweetness through the middle, and makrut lime — fragrant, almost perfumed zest — stopping you before a clean, delicate finish. In the cup: pomegranate, white peach, makrut lime, and honeysuckle.

THE PRODUCER Habtamu Fikadu Aga runs Kuri Mountain Coffee, an operation that started with a single inherited farm. Founded in 2015 by Aaga Dinsa, grandson of a coffee farmer in Kuri Kebele, the company has grown to 837 hectares across Wolega, Guji, and Jimma, most belonging to 144 registered outgrowers delivering cherry to its washing stations. Kuri Mountain puts $0.12 per pound of exports plus 5% of profits into a local development fund covering schools, roads, food, and healthcare. Until 2017, their coffee moved through the national auction, where lots lose their names — now they export directly, which is why the specific producer can be named.

74110 and 74112 are both named varieties selected in 1974 by the Jimma Agricultural Research Center from wild trees in the forests of western Ethiopia, chosen for coffee berry disease resistance. 74110 traces to a single tree near Bishari village; 74112 comes from the same Metu Bishari selections in the Illubabor Zone. The trees are short and compact, with small leaves and cherries, carrying the floral, tea-like character that made Ethiopian coffee famous.

THE PROCESS The protocol is consistent across every Kuri Mountain washing station. Cherries are pulped, then fully submerged and fermented for 48 to 72 hours depending on temperature. After washing, the parchment soaks in clean water for another 12 hours before moving to raised beds, drying slowly over 10 to 12 days.

This disciplined, unvarying protocol is the defining factor — nothing experimental, nothing rushed, letting fruit from 2,000 masl speak clearly through the pomegranate, white peach, and honeysuckle character that define this cup.

THE CUP Juicy and bright, with total clarity — honeysuckle opens the aroma, pomegranate's tart sparkle leads, white peach carries sweetness through the middle, and a fragrant makrut lime zest lingers into a clean, delicate finish. Light body, high clarity, everything in focus.

Flavour Notes 🍈 Pomegranate 🍑 White Peach 🍋 Makrut Lime 🌼 Honeysuckle