Ethiopia - Gigesa | Washed

Gigesa is a small town in the Danbi Uddo Kebele, not far from the town of Shakiso in the Guji Zone of Ethiopia. The Gigesa washing station shares the name of the town and collects cherries from more than 500 coffee growers in the area, each holding approximately 2-5 hectares of farm land, all over 1800 meters above sea level. The Gigesa washing station holds NOP and EU Organic certification.Freshly picked cherries are delivered to the Gigesa washing station and immediately depulped. The pulped coffee will rest in fermentation tanks for 36 to 48 hours depending on the weather conditions! During the long fermentation process, the mucilage is broken down and ultimately removed through a final washing of the coffee in the canals. After being fully washed, the coffee is dried on raised beds for 10-12 days.The Gigesa washing station is owned and operated by the Yonis family. As part of the quality control process, fresh cherries are floated in water to separate lower qualities before depulping. Traditional disc pulpers are used and the coffee is allowed at least 24 hours to ferment before being fully washed and set to dry on raised beds for 10-12 days on average.