The Story

We have Ethiopia to thank for coffee. It's the birthplace of arabica, which still grows wild there in resplendent diversity. In fact, it's the region's botanical variety that makes Ethiopian coffee so special, bestowing beans with a distinctive appearance and aroma—long and slightly curved, with a beautiful floral scent reminiscent of heady citrus blossoms. Generally, coffee from this region is washed process. But when samples of a natural process coffee from the region arrived in our Tasting Room in 2005, our Roastmaster Emeritus Jim Reynolds called it one of the most remarkable coffees he had ever tasted. It was...