MOHAMED ALI, Ethiopia (Natural)

Mustafa Mohamed Ali grows coffee in the Goma region, in the Jimma zone of Ethiopia, continuing a tradition that began back in the 1950s, when his family sold coffee to Yemeni traders who came to the region specifically for it. He took over the plantations in the 1980s and cared for the trees planted by his father, and since 2016, after obtaining his own export license, he decided to sell his coffee directly, without intermediaries, to keep control over the quality of every lot. It's the kind of story you can taste right in the cup.

The coffee grows at 1,900-2,000m above sea level, in the shade of large native trees, in an agroforestry ecosystem that keeps temperatures low and lets the cherries ripen slowly. The variety is Heirloom: the native, genetically unaltered populations that make Ethiopian coffee one of the most diverse in the world and one of the hardest to reproduce anywhere else.

Natural processing lets the whole cherry dry around the bean, without removing the pulp first. The sugars in the fruit have time to slowly seep into the bean, and the result is a coffee with a fuller body, pronounced sweetness and an intensely fruity aromatic profile.

Mohamed Ali develops notes of raspberry, nectarine and citrus, supported by a medium-high body, medium acidity and a high sweetness that lingers in the cup. A vibrant, expressive coffee, exactly the kind you look for when you want to experience Ethiopia at its fullest.