The Goraa village, where the Goraa group of farmers is located, is part of the bigger Uddo Hadamma area in East Guji.

This relatively young but already famous coffee area is recognized for its unique and distinctive cup profiles. In this beautiful landscape of forest jungle at an elevation of 2,000-2,100 meters above sea level, this coffee grows beneath the canopy of indigenous trees on rich loam soil typical of the luscious hills of the Guji zone. Smallholder farms are, on average, around 2.5 ha only and are exclusively growing coffee.

The Goraa smallholders are famous for their natural lots but, this year, for the first time, they’re offering an anaerobic natural lot. This new lot has been assembled thanks to the contribution of the 25 farmers that live in the village of Goraa. All these farmers are growing the Gibirrina/Serto variety (74110 & 74112), which are locally selected from Guji heirlooms for their disease-resistant qualities.

All these farmers are trained in agronomy and post-harvest practices by Ture Waji, who is also managing the dry mills in the area.

Ture Waji, famously known as ‘The King of Guji’, is the ruler of Sookoo Coffee. As he grew up in the region, he has strong connections to the land, its community, and its farmers. After studying, he started as an export and farm manager at his cousin’s coffee farm, and, eventually, he was able to start Sookoo Coffee (previously Dambi Uddo).

The freshly harvested, fully ripe cherries are delivered to the cherry collections centers or washing/drying stations, where they go through intensive sorting to separate over and under-ripe fruit out from the lots.

Here, lots are tagged, separated, and recorded with the start date of drying.

Thanks to Ture's expertise and attention to detail in coffee processing, the villagers decided to process part of their production as Anaerobic Natural for the first time ever, at the Suke Quto washing station. The cherries had been placed in sealed barrels for 72 hours inside the warehouse, away from direct sunlight, to reduce the risk of over-fermentation due to excessive heat. For the same reason, after the cherries are placed in the barrel, they are covered with water. At the end of the three days, the coffee is laid in thin layers on raised beds and is left to dry for around 25 to 30 days until the parchment is at the ideal moisture level. The process includes lots of moving and turning of the coffee cherries on African beds, a minimum of six times per day, and in a very shallow bed of cherries, a maximum of one 4 cm.

Due to high heat during the hottest parts of the day, the coffee is carefully covered to prevent fast drying and ensure quality and longevity.

In the cup: Peach, delicate floral, milk chocolate, sweet aftertaste. The body is silky, and the acidity is pleasing. Overall it is a very balanced coffee.

Minimum resting period: 10 days from the roast date for espresso roast, 5 days for filter roast.