Ethiopia Burka Gudina Swiss Water Decaf

Origin: Ethiopia

Region: L​immu Kosa, Jimma

Process: ​Natural Swiss Water Decaf

Elevation: ​1,850-2,000 meters above sea level 

Sourced By: ​Roast House

Cupping Notes: dried strawberry, blueberry, taffy candy 

Ethiopia Coffee & The Burka Gudina Farm 

Ethiopian coffees are known for their bright, floral, sweet, tropical and juicy notes. There are many different flavor profiles in different regions of this country, showing just how diverse and unique coffee is. The range of flavor in Ethiopian coffee is truly delicious, and this has a lot to do with location, temperature, soil, and elevation. Higher elevation has a direct on size and taste, usually producing a more flavorful, aromatic cup of coffee. The higher the elevation, the slower the beans grow, creating a denser bean. Just think, the higher the coffee is grown, the more berrylicious it will be. 

Our decaf comes from the Jimma region, located in the southwest of Ethiopia and home to Ibrahim Hussein’s Burka Gudina farm, a large privately owned coffee plantation. Coffee is grown here at 1,850-2,000 meters above sea level and rests on densely forested hills. Most of the farm is covered in acacia trees, providing shade to the coffee plants. Ibrahim grows many different coffee varieties that thrive at these elevations and are naturally disease resistant. Hussein is a third generation coffee farmer that produces Organic and Rainforest Alliance certified coffee. The original Hussein family farm was lost to the communist regime during the Ethiopia Civil War in the 1970s. Luckily, Ibrahim was able to purchase 205 hectares of land in the same area once the war ended in 1991. Since then, Ibrahim has established his farm as a well-respected source of specialty coffee. Since the farm was established, Ibrahim has set up a team of 70 farmers who help manage the farm. He invests his time and money into training the team and organizing many workshops. Ibrahim also pays his team high wages, which he believes contributes to their job satisfaction. 

Swiss Water Decaf 

This method is a water processing method that uses water as the solvent. It uses green coffee extract and carbon to remove caffeine by osmosis. Swiss water is 100% organic and chemical free. A mixture of water and green-coffee extract that has already been reduced in caffeine is immersed in very hot water. The water from the bath is then passed through activated charcoal, which traps the caffeine. This charcoal has been pretreated with a carbohydrate that helps it absorb the caffeine without compromising the flavor of the bean. The coffee beans are then passed through a series of baths to remove almost all of the caffeine. The water and the green coffee extract can then be reused in several baths. This process allows for a flavorful cup of coffee, highlighting the coffee bean, which results in a tasty cup of decaf coffee. Click here to check out a video of how this method is done. You can also learn more about decaf and the different processes by clicking here. 

Flavor Profile

This Swiss Water Ethiopia Decaf offers fresh fruit aromatics and notes of strawberry syrup, blueberry, with a dry cacao finish- it is truly hard to believe that you are drinking decaf coffee. The body is light, juicy, and fruit forward. As the coffee cools down, the body becomes more like a black tea, with notes of graham cracker and baking spices. All you could ever want in a cup of coffee- chocolate and berries. It’s stupid good.

Buy a bag here, or come into the Tasting Room!