Why we love this coffee:
Ethiopian coffee is almost the spiritual home of modern coffee and always a favourite with staff and customers. As our Signature Espresso we are highlighting the classic Ethiopian attributes of bright citrus and creamy milk chocolate. The Kilenso Mokonisa Co-op have provided us with many years of standout coffees that it only makes sense to give that a permanent home as our Espresso of choice.

Sourcing this coffee:
We really love Ethiopian coffee. Ethiopia wrote the book on organic farming as a basic principle they believe in. However, it is a little more complex to buy Ethiopian coffee; it is a government controlled system - you need to be Ethiopian to buy coffee directly for a start, and the government sets the price and has contract controls in place. Most Ethiopian coffee cannot be direct trade, so it makes it a lot harder to maintain the relationships here.

The Cooperatives Story
The Kilenso Mokonisa Cooperative represents more than 2,300 members and exists within the region-wide Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union who export the coffee. Quality coffee has acted as the stepping stone for wider improvements in the communities income, education and now climate change mitigation and resilience.

With most contributing members producing coffee on 2 hectares or less, the scale of the cooperative's output is truly a collaborative effort. Here coffee is grown amongst the sustenance crop Enset with farmers hand-picking before delivering their cherries to the cooperatives washing station. The classic Ethiopian washed process uses clean water to separate any less ripe coffee and the resulting fermentation translates to a crisp, clean and quintessential Sidamo flavour profile.

The cooperative grows about 80,000 seedlings per year to replenish their members' farms, seedlings are planted and nurtured for one year before being distributed.