How to Buy Fresh Harar Coffee Beans from Ethiopia_Harar Coffee Growing Region Flavor Characteristics

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Discovering Harar: Ethiopia's Famous Coffee Region

Let me guide you through Harar, another renowned coffee-producing region in Ethiopia, as we explore its unique characteristics step by step.

Harar Coffee: Named After Its Origin

Harar Coffee is named after its place of origin, and some people also translate it as "Harla" coffee.

The Harar administrative region is located in eastern Ethiopia, adjacent to Somalia. Harar, Sidamo, and Limu are the main specialty coffee-producing regions in Ethiopia.

Harar: Situated at an altitude of 1,500-2,400 meters, it belongs to the garden coffee system.

Historical Significance and Growing Conditions

Harar is a historic ancient city and one of the four holy cities of Islam. It is the highest-altitude coffee-producing area in Ethiopia (the most suitable altitude for Arabica coffee growth).

Harar coffee grows in areas ranging from 900 meters altitude in the Darolebu plains to 2,700 meters in the Chercher mountain ranges of eastern Ethiopia. These mountains indeed provide unique characteristics to these perennially grown coffee beans: full-bodied elongated fruits, moderate acidity, medium texture, and a rich flavor reminiscent of fruit wine.

Processing Methods and Regional Differences

The Harar coffee available on the market mainly refers to coffee produced in the Hararghe highlands. Due to the annual rainfall of only 1000mm here, which is drier and cooler than Sidamo and Kaffa Forest, all coffee is processed using the natural (dry) method. In terms of flavor, coffee from the Eastern Hararghe highlands is cleaner than that from Western Hararghe. This is likely because farmers in the eastern region are accustomed to removing the dried parchment and husk from the dried cherries, selling clean green beans. Farmers in the western region, however, tend to sell unprocessed dried coffee cherries, with many defective beans mixed in. Therefore, the market price of Eastern Hararghe coffee is significantly better than that of the western region.

Characteristics and Flavor Profile

Ethiopian Harar, like Yemen Mocha, is also "purely handmade" coffee. Harar can generally be divided into three types: Longberry Harar, Shortberry Harar, and Mocha Harar (single bean). Among them, Longberry Harar is the most popular and has the best quality. These coffee beans are full-bodied with rich wine aroma, noticeable acidity, and a heavy, intense flavor.

Harar coffee is famous for its "mixed aromas" and is a typical example of traditional flavor. It has a complex flavor profile, rich taste, medium to light acidity, and easily detectable berry notes. Most importantly, it has one of the lowest caffeine contents at approximately 1.13%. Harar is also a very special coffee - its flavor is quite aggressive, always ready to conquer your taste buds, making it hard to forget.

Roasting Recommendations

When roasting Harar coffee, you can choose a lighter roast to maximally preserve the coffee's fruity aromas. If you deepen the roast degree, the fruitiness will decrease while the spicy flavors will become more prominent.

Trade and Market Value

Harar coffee is concentrated for export through Dire Dawa north of the city, but after reforms in 2009, it is now traded centrally in the capital.

The international auction price of Harar coffee has always been higher than the familiar Yirgacheffe, which is related to Saudi Arabia's preference for Harar flavor and their large-scale purchases. After the implementation of Ethiopia's new trading and grading system, Harar specialty grades are divided into five groups: A, B, C, D, and E. Group A comes from the Eastern Harar region and commands the highest auction price.

Whether the "Yirgacheffe flavor" is superior or the "Harar flavor" is better is subjective. In principle, if you prefer a clean, flavor-free taste, you can choose the former. If you prefer a taste with a wider flavor spectrum, you can choose the latter.

The Pride and Traditions of Harar People

Almost every Harar resident proudly says: "Harar's coffee is the best."

Harar people also take their coffee drinking very seriously. They cannot imagine serving coffee to guests without a coffee ceremony. Even regular family coffee drinking has fixed times, places, and ceremonies, much like religious worship.

First, they lay out fresh green grass in a corner. With smoking charcoal creating a swirling haze, they begin the process of washing, roasting, grinding, and brewing. What kind of flavor does this coffee brewed in a long-necked, large-bellied clay pot produce?

Conclusion

Now do you understand the characteristics of Harar coffee? Next time you taste coffee, make a careful comparison with Yirgacheffe to see which flavor is your favorite.

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