Amaro Gayo and One of Ethiopia's Only Female Coffee Exporters

This month we have the pleasure of having Ethiopia Amaro Gayo as our featured coffee. So what better time to tell you about the incredible farm, and equally incredible woman that this coffee comes from.

This coffee comes from a farm in the Amaro Mountains of Ethiopia. The area is full of waterfalls, bamboo forests, and local coffee varietals. Nestled between a National Park and tribal land, the farm is unique and beautiful. This land is the home of one of Ethiopia’s only female coffee millers and exporters, Asnakech Thomas, who returned to Amaro in 2005 to improve the quality of coffee and the living conditions of her home region. Through her farm she helps provide medical assistance, jobs, and schooling to her community.

Asnakech’s farm is unique in that the coffee is harvested, sorted, and milled all on-site, which gives her extraordinary control over the quality of the coffee. She only accepts the highest quality coffee cherries at the peak of freshness. Her cherries are then dried on raised beds to create a cleaner coffee by removing contact with the ground soil. These beds also help the coffee dry evenly on all sides, resulting in a more consistent flavor and quality.

Aside from running and incredible farm and coffee mill, she also helped found an advocacy program for other female coffee growers called the EWiC (Ethiopian Women in Coffee Association). This group helps fight for women at an economic disadvantage that may not be getting recognized for their role in the coffee community. The organization also helps provide training and networking for these female producers.

“Our hostess, Asnakech Thomas is a force of nature.  Her Estate in the Sidamo region produces some of the finest semi-washed coffees you will find and she is a delight. Organic and local to her core, her influence on coffees in the region reaches well beyond her own estate.” - John Clark on his 2015 Origin Trip

Asnakech has overcome and powered through every challenge (including a literal war on her farm) to keep providing great coffee to the world and better lives for those in her community. It is our honor to get to roast and serve up her crops and we hope you taste every ounce of her hard work and ambition in every drop.

New Foothills Uganda Kanungu Natural

The story of our two new Foothills Uganda coffees begins two years ago, when we were set up in the Roaster’s Village at the Specialty Coffee Association Trade Show in Seattle, WA. At those events, you are frequently visited by coffee farmers, typically from Brazil, who are eager to leave you with samples to try their various coffees. We had many such visits from all kinds of folks, but one soft-spoken gentleman stopped by named Gerald Mbabazi. He introduced himself as the director of Gorilla Summit, representing farmers from Kanungu in remote Southwestern Uganda. He left a couple of samples with us and went on his way. 

When I got back from Seattle, I looked at the pile of 20 or so green coffee samples and grabbed a few that caught my eye to roast up and cup. Two of the coffees that stood out from the pack were Gerald’s coffees. I was blown away. The samples were SL-28 varietals, one washed and one natural. The SL-28 caught my attention because it is a Kenyan varietal, but obviously grown in Uganda. I couldn’t tell which I liked more, the washed or the natural. 

I reached out to Gerald and told him how much we enjoyed his coffees and requested a few bags of each to put into our Foothills Series. The plot thickened when Gerald informed me the the coffee he had set aside for us (and others) had been stolen from his warehouse. I was disappointed but promised to try the next crop, hoping it would be just as good. Well, it turns out it was just as fantastic as the last crop and after much back and forth, we’re super happy to finally release both coffees to you. 

What I love these coffees is the opportunity for you to experience the exact same coffee varietal processed two different ways. Everything unique about them is due mainly to their processing method. The natural was dried in the sun on raised beds, and the washed was They are both amazing but it completely different ways. 

The Foothills Uganda Kanungu Washed has a delightful aroma of florals, vanilla, and chocolate. The flavor is like black currant, butterscotch, and brown sugar. For those familiar with our Foothills Series, this would be comparable to our Guatemala La Armonia Hermosa. 

The Foothills Uganda Kanungu natural has an aroma that is warm and sweet with lots of chocolate with a hint of berries. The flavor is like blueberries, honey, and milk chocolate. This would certainly be comparable to our Ethiopia Hambela. 

Here at Vienna, we want to continue to provide you with the coffees you’ve come to expect and love from us, but also want to keep introducing you to new ones because after all, they may soon become your new favorite. 

Philip Hatter Director of Coffee and Training