We have roasted Ethiopian coffees for many years. Most of the Ethiopian coffees we’ve bought come from Sidama, Gedeo and Guji, south and east of the Great Rift Valley. Small farms here grow coffee under shade trees alongside other crops.

Our selections have included Oromia Bishan Wate, Ayla, Chelba, Sit’ota and a water-process decaf from Sidama, as well as Keramo and Bombe Natural. Together, these coffees connect our sourcing to smallholders, named producers and washing stations across the southern highlands.

Coffee has long been Ethiopia’s most important export and remains woven into daily life: roughly half the harvest is consumed at home.

Coffee berry disease spread widely in the 1970s, prompting research into resistant varieties. After the 1974 revolution, the Derg government nationalized rural land and placed coffee marketing under state control. Smallholders remained central, with little security or incentive to invest.

Trade opened after the Derg fell in 1991, while land remained state-owned. Compulsory commodity-exchange trading introduced in 2008 obscured farm and washing-station origins. Reforms in 2017 restored direct export routes and traceability.

More recently, conflict and insecurity, particularly in western Oromia’s Wollega zones, have disrupted harvests and transport. Millions of small farmers remain at the heart of Ethiopian coffee.