KAFFA House: Coffee

Kaleb Services Farmers House started exporting organic coffee in 2002 and since that time the organic Sidamo and Yerga Cheffee coffee of Kaleb are in great demand. This is because Kaleb ensures and keeps the quality and standards of coffee for export. One good testimony for such a quality of Kaleb's coffee is the award Kaleb received; During the IFOAM competition of organic coffee quality competition in Uganda, Kampala the Organic Sidamo coffee of Kaleb stood number one and Kaleb was awarded a certificate of quality.

Kaleb as a starter in the coffee business has a long term plan to develop specialty coffee called Kaleb coffee. This specialty is going to be a brand made for different Mix of the different types of coffees in Ethiopia . Kaleb is ready to provide Sidamo grade 2 & 4 ,Wellega and Yerga Cheffe grade 2&4, Limu coffee grade 2 and Jimma coffee grade 4& 5.

The quality of our coffee is assured and is real Ethiopian. Contact us and you will be delighted by our services. Furthermore Ethiopian coffee is checked for its variety and quality by the Ministry of Coffee & Tea Development formerly known as National Coffee Board of Ethiopia, which was established in 1957 for controlling ,improving and standardizing the quality of coffee exported from Ethiopia. It has further succeeded in coordinating producers; traders' and exporters' interests as well as ensuring that the enacted coffee cleaning and grading regulation are made fully effective.

Mr Tesfaye, owner and General Manger of Kaleb is always in the coffee growing areas of Sidamo and Yerga Chefe during Harvest of coffee processing of the co-operatives and always advices the farmers to keep the quality of coffee so that they will be awarded second payment if their coffee is number one in quality. The award given to Kaleb Farmers House PLC is an instance of such efforts of Kaleb as it can be proved by the award given in the year 2003.Click here to read more: ( Ethiopia Herald)

The buyers of Kaleb's Sidamo coffee like Starbags, Pits Coffee and Inter-America had started importing one container in 2003.A year and again ( 2004 /2005) they had imported more than 3 containers. They witness that the quality of our coffee is very much pleasing.

Kaleb is currently making researches and has found very small but historical types of coffees in which they are linked to imperial coffee taken only by Emperor Haile Selasse and presented to Queen Elizabeth when she had visited him, Monks delight coffee taken by the monks in the Island of Lake Tana and Forest coffee collected from the natural forest which were preserved as human heritage by UNESCO.

The coffee plant is believed to be discovered growing wild in Kaffa province whence the word ‘'coffee'' was derived. All Ethiopian coffee is of the higher quality Arabica species and is usually referred to by the area it comes from such as Harrar, Kaffa, Ghimbi, Gore, Mattu, Sidamo etc. It is identified by its long berry, good flavor, medium acidity, and rich body .It is blue –green in color and is available in washed and unwashed.

Coffee in Ethiopian grows in slightly acidic soils: i.e . pH 4.5-5.5. and with annual rainfall of 60-90 inches and is grown on highland areas raging between 4,000-7,000 feet above sea level. Ethiopian coffee is available at different prices. One can select from the following kinds of Ethiopian coffee to suit one's preference: Jimma hand-picked, Ghimbi Handpicked, Harrar longberry. Handpicked Ethiopian washed Mocca are examples of the more expensive types while Jimma Handpicked is the cheaper type. Due to the variety's inherent quality, however, all have unique highland flavour and excellent aroma.Mocca coffee is its synonymous name.

Farmers pick coffee when the cherries are bright red, sometimes between September to December and process it in one of two ways. Those who wash their coffee immediately place the bright red cherries through coffee pulps which decorticate the outside skins. The coffee beans are then placed in clean fermentation tanks until the beans are properly fermented. Next, the beans are left to evenly dry in the sun on elevated wire trays or on cement floors.

The other process is sun-drying the non-decorticated coffee cherries on wire trays or cement floors. After decorticating the dry coffee cherries, farmers store the beans in clean, well ventilated store- houses. Then they tank the beans to the local inspection centers where they are registered and finally sent to the main coffee inspection and grading center in Addis Ababa for auction. With the help of different technologies and trained women handpickers,the coffee is graded and certified at the coffee inspection and grading center for export. Coffee leaving Ethiopia is placed in 60-kilobags which have the U .G .Q. (UsualGooD – Quality) mark, the certificate number, and the exporter's trade name. Due to this rigorous control on coffee ,the standard of coffee exported from Ethiopia is Grade 5 or better which means a 300-gram sample has less than 100 defects to be classified as Grade 5 and less than 3 defects to be classified as 1. The consumer is thus assured of a full-bodied, aromatic and flavorful cup of coffee.

Ethiopian Regional Coffee Distribution

QUALITIES OF ETHIOPIAN HIGHLAND GROWN ARABICA COFFEE
REGION	PREPARATION		SHAPE AND MAKE OF BEAN	COLOUR		ROAST	LIQUOR QUALITY	REMARKS
SIDAMO	WASHED		MIXED SMALL-TO-MEDIUM ROUND,HARDISH,BURBON TYPE,GOOD-TO-GOOD/FINE QUALITY	GREY/ GREEN-TO-GREYISH,BLUE SLIGHTLY COATED{SILVER SKIN}	Bright,white-to-normal center cut,compact,well-developed beans		Balanced acidity and body of good Quality	Good QUALITY COFFEE WITH ATTRACTIVE STYLE
SIDAMO	UNWASHED		IDENTICAL WITH WASHED SIDAMO	GREENISH,-TO-BROWNISH GREEN, RATHER COATED	NORMAL FEW PALES OF LIGHTISH BROWN BEANS		FAIRLY BALANCED ACIDITY AND BODY,WITH FAIR AVERAGE QUALITY	OCCASIONALLY ORDINARY FLAVOUR BUT ROUND CUP
LIMU	WASHED		OVAL-TO-OBLONG SHAPE WITH POINTED OR ROUNDED LIMU	GRAYISH, BLUE-TO-BLUISH	BRIGHT,WHITE-TO-NORAL CENTER CUT SLIGHTLY OPEN,COMPACT EVEN ROAST		WELL-BALANCED OF GOOD ACIDITY AND BODY,good-to-fine quality	Good cut, balanced excellent flavour of winey flavour one of best washed Ethiopian highland grown coffee
kaffa	Unwashed		Identical with washed Limu	Greenish-to-brownish green, rater coated	Ordinary rather open brownish center out, with odd pale beans, slightly softish appearance		Fare light medium acidity good heavy body , fare average quality	Slightly ordinary but good balanced cup
Gimbi (lekempti) Long berry		Washed	Medium-to-larger mostly long and with pointed ends	Grenised/grey, green, slightly coated	Bright normal white centre cut slightly open, softish appearance		Good acidity medium body, quality cup	Generally clean cup characteristic, slightly fruity
gimbi		Unwashed	Identical with washed Gimbi	Light brownish/green, rater coated	Rather ordinary, light open brownish centre cut, softish appearance		Light, medium acidity and body, with fair, average quality	Clean cup rather fruity flavour of its own
Harar long berry		Unwashed	Medium-to-large long with pointed ends, generally called ends, long berry Harar.	Grayish-to-greenish, slightly coated	Normal browishe centreout, slightly open, rather softish appearance, good roast quality		Medium acidity full body, round cup,typical moka flavourof good quality cup	The best highland grown Ethiopian Arabic coffee which attains the highest price in the coffee marketing world known as premium blending coffee
Yerga- cheffe		washed	Mixed average medium size round --to-oval shape hardish type, good-to good/fine quality	Grayish/blue-to-bluish , good quality	white –to-normal center cut, compact well-developed beans		Medium-to-pointed acidity&good body, well-balanced cup of good moka flavour	The best highland grown good Ethiopian Arabica coffee with real moka flavour

Enjoy Ethiopian Coffee! You would be lov'n it.