Two highlands. One country. Endlessly different cups.

Photo by JALO HOTEL on Unsplash

Most of Ethiopia's coffee never gets a farmer's name attached to it.

Coffee here is grown almost entirely on small family plots, often less than a hectare, frequently intercropped with food for the household. Left to the standard export system, cherries from dozens of farms get pooled together, and any sense of who grew what disappears before the coffee ever leaves the country.

Kaldi Trail buys through cooperatives and washing stations that keep lots separate by farm and by day of harvest, so we can tell you exactly which hillside your coffee came from — and pay accordingly.

Hand-picked, hand-sorted, then handed to us directly.

Ripe cherries are picked by hand, one at a time, then carried to the nearest washing station or laid on raised drying beds depending on the process. Every stage — pulping, fermenting, drying, sorting — is still largely done by hand, which is exactly why quality here can be so remarkable.

We visit during harvest season, taste lots at the washing station, and commit to the ones that earn a place in our lineup. No blind buying, no anonymous containers.

Photo by Hendrik Morkel on Unsplash