Local Varieties
This lot brings together four named Ethiopian selections, 74140, 74110, 74112 and 75227, alongside heirloom varieties. The numbered varieties were catalogued through Ethiopia’s coffee research programmes. 74110, 74112 and 74140 belong to selections collected around Metu-Bishari in western Ethiopia in 1974, during work to identify coffees with resistance to coffee berry disease while maintaining cup quality.
At Hambela Alaka, METAD organises the farm into separate plots planted with individual varieties. Alaka Korchema brings several of these varieties together rather than presenting a single-variety lot. This combination reflects both the genetic diversity of Ethiopian coffee and METAD’s unusually detailed approach to tracing the varieties grown across the farm.
Natural Process
The coffee cherries are harvested by hand and dried whole on African raised beds. During a natural process, the seed remains inside the fruit throughout drying rather than being depulped before drying.
At Hambela Alaka, elevations above 2,000 metres and the orientation of the processing site create conditions for slow drying. The process typically lasts between three and four weeks before the coffee is prepared for export.
