Ethiopia — Konga Smallholders Ethiopian Heirloom (Natural)

Tastes Like — 🥃 Irish Whiskey • 🍓 Raspberry • 🌱 Rhubarb • 🫐 Currants

DETAILS

• Producer: Konga Smallholders
• Region: Konga, Ethiopia
• Varietal: Ethiopian Heirloom
• Process: Natural
• Altitude: 1,900–2,100 MASL
• Roast: Espresso
• Size: 200g

INTRO

Raspberry Kiss — a naturally processed Ethiopian Heirloom from the Konga smallholders at 1,900–2,100 MASL. A fruit-forward, winey, and deeply expressive natural with a distinctive Irish whiskey warmth and boozy edge that sets it apart from more restrained Ethiopian naturals. In the cup: Irish whiskey, raspberry, rhubarb, and currants.

THE PRODUCER

Konga is a growing area within Ethiopia's celebrated coffee-producing regions — part of the broader Yirgacheffe zone, known for its extraordinary biodiversity of indigenous landrace varieties and the exceptional conditions its altitude, volcanic soils, and cool climate create for natural processing. The smallholders contributing to this lot cultivate Ethiopian Heirloom coffees at 1,900–2,100 MASL, where the slow cherry development and concentrated sugars that define high-altitude Ethiopian naturals build the intense, winey fruit character that defines Raspberry Kiss.

Ethiopia's extraordinary genetic diversity — with DNA testing confirming over 60 distinct varieties growing across the country — means that most Ethiopian coffees are blends of many co-existing heirloom cultivars, each contributing to the layered complexity and vivid fruit character that make this origin so celebrated worldwide.

THE PROCESS

The Natural process involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Heirloom cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 🔍 Sorting — Carefully sorted before drying to ensure only the finest ripe cherries proceed ☀️ Raised-bed drying — Whole cherries dried on raised beds, turned regularly to ensure even drying throughout

The raised-bed natural drying is the defining step — the beans rest inside the intact cherry throughout, slowly absorbing the fruit's sugars and developing the Irish whiskey warmth, raspberry vibrancy, rhubarb tartness, and currant depth that define this lot's boldly fruited and winey character.

THE CUP

A bold, winey, and deeply expressive natural Ethiopian espresso from the Konga smallholders — Irish whiskey warmth and boozy depth up front, raspberry and currant fruit vibrancy through the middle, and a tart rhubarb finish that keeps the cup lively and interesting. Raspberry Kiss: exactly what it says.

Flavour Notes

🥃 Irish Whiskey 🍓 Raspberry 🌱 Rhubarb 🫐 Currants