Suke Quto
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Our final washed Ethiopia offering from the 2023 harvest is from one of our longest ongoing relationships and consistent year-after-year purchases from Ethiopia, the always beloved - Suke Quto! Nestled in the highlands of the Odo Shakiso woreda, the Suke Quto Farm is a totally wild, organic treasure chest of regional landraces. These old varieties, Kurume and Wolisho, were originally selected from the forest and have been propagated for decades throughout Gedeo and Guji. You can expect Suke Quto to shine with dense stone fruit and berry flavors that are stereotypical of this region and these varieties. Overseeing the entire operation is Tesfaye Bekele - an agronomist, horticulture specialist, environmentalist, and visionary. Check out the story of Guji coffee to learn more about Tesfaye’s pioneering role in establishing coffee production in the Guji region.
In 1998, a massive wildfire destroyed nearly 5,000 acres of land throughout Odo Shakiso and three other nearby woredas. Out of a desire to preserve the forest and save it from transforming into a new mining operation, Tesfaye took it upon himself to distribute coffee and shade tree seedlings to a dedicated group of 170 outgrowers. Together they were able to start regrowing the area of forest that surrounds the Suke Quto Farm. With this, Tesfaye was able to accomplish his dream of developing environmentally friendly coffee and sustaining the local community with a reliable income. The Suke Quto Farm is fully organic, with never any chemical fertilizer or pesticide use. The canopy cover from shade trees is nearly 60% - coffee plants here grow extremely tall and slow. Tesfaye never ceases to inspire, with his focus on ecological conversation, clear desire to produce high quality coffee, and deep philosophical wisdom. In his words: “We are not only buying the coffee. We are protecting the forest and buying the nature”.
Suke Quto Farm and processing station both exhibit an extreme attention to detail, and the results are stunning each season. A clean mouthfeel allows soft floral and ripe fruit flavors to shine - think orange blossom, dried apricot, and plum. Meanwhile, a lingering dark honey and vanilla sweetness balances out the flavors, transforming them into a silky citrus marmalade. It’s a perfect representation of coffee from the Guji region, and a beautiful gateway into the more fruit-forward, complex coffees we purchase from Ethiopia. We’re tasting: dried apricot, plum, cherry, nectarine, pear, rooibos tea, orange blossom, lavender, vanilla, honey, biscoff cookie.
Relationship
Suke Quto has held a special place in our heart for years now, and whenever we’ve had the opportunity to spend time with Tesfaye, it absolutely solidifies why we’re dedicated to supporting his operation. As you might remember, this coffee has graced our menu many times before. Our importing partners, Trabocca, began purchasing from Suke Quto in 2009, and we’ve been consistently buying since 2013. Tesfaye explains, “Trabocca is our main buyer. We sell our coffee to them every year and they are distributing it throughout the world. Trabocca is very serious about quality control and brought us to the level at which we are now, where we are very proud of our product.” Trabocca covers the cost of organic certification, and if certain quality standards are met, gives additional premiums under their “Operation Cherry Red” (OCR) program.
Processing
The Suke Quto station has been implementing quality processing protocols since day one: careful cherry selection, 48-hour fermentation in concrete tanks, washing in extended channels that provide for density separation, and properly managed drying on raised beds. Suke Quto continues to thrive and expand its reach; they are now collecting coffee from hundreds of outgrowers at two different stations (a wet, washing station and a dry, natural processing station), while continuing to distribute seedlings and compost throughout the area.
Brewing
To fully bring out the more delicate stone fruit and floral flavors, we recommend grinding relatively a bit coarser and brewing at a ratio of 1:17. In our opinion, this keeps the flavors super clean and transparent.
If your brew is astringent and bitter, like over-steeped black tea - try grinding coarser.
If your brew is thin and sour, like an under-ripe peach, try grinding finer.
