Ethiopia Sidamo | Rainforest Alliance Mormora Estate Washed Red Cherry Project

Ethiopia Sidamo: The Flavor of Rainforest Alliance Mormora Estate Washed Red Cherry Project G1

Ethiopia is the country where coffee was first discovered, and it remains one of the most important and finest producers in both quality and yield. Most of its coffee is the traditional Arabica variety, with an annual production of about 350,000 tons, over 70% of which is exported worldwide. Roughly 15 million people nationwide work in coffee-related industries, and over 90% of farms and cooperatives are smallholder operations.

After 2008, crops produced in Ethiopia—including wheat, corn, sesame, and coffee—were fully brought into the ECX (Ethiopian Commodity Exchange) system, replacing the existing auction and export methods. Under this approach, farmers or cooperatives deliver coffee to ECX centralized warehouses, where beans of the same grade and from the same area are blended together and then auctioned. Buyers don't know which specific farmers or cooperatives, or which regions, produced a given lot. In practice this doesn't hurt production or quality; it simply makes quality easier to read through price—you get what you pay for. What it does affect is that intermediate traders can no longer freely track lots and secure the profit they'd like, while consumers get more transparency. Bypassing the ECX system brings heavy taxation, so over 90% of transactions currently go through it. For buyers who love specialty coffee, though, ECX is not a benefit. So starting in 2010, Ethiopia introduced the DST (Direct Specialty Trade) system: irregular Ethiopian auctions in which only coffees scoring above 80 points under SCAA cupping standards may be traded under their own farm or cooperative names with foreign green bean buyers.

Washed Coffee Processing in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, washed coffees are distinguished by a "1" or "2" appended to their names, with "1" the higher quality. After the cherries are harvested, the pulp is removed immediately, and the beans are placed in water to ferment and slough off the mucilage layer. This takes several hours, depending on variety, growing region, and temperature, and must be watched closely—the slightest misstep can leave inferior flavors in the beans. Once fermentation is complete, the beans are washed clean through a long, sloped water channel, which also removes defective beans and foreign matter. They are then dried on drying beds, where they must be monitored and turned every few hours to dry completely. That is the whole washed process.

Mormora Estate Details

This coffee grows in the Oromia region. Mormora Estate began producing organic coffee in 2001 and is Rainforest Alliance certified. The Dutch coffee trader Trabocca began cooperating with and monitoring the estate five years ago. Mormora covers 640 hectares, currently with 12 permanent member cooperatives for growing and processing coffee, managed by three high-quality consultants. During harvest, over 300 pickers are on hand, with roughly 150 people processing the coffee.

Farm: Mormora Coffee Plantation

City: Shakiso

Region: Sidamo

Grade: Red Cherry Project G1

Country: Ethiopia

Altitude: 1,700-1,800 meters

Harvesting: Hand-picking

Coffee Characteristics

Variety: Heirloom (local traditional wild varieties)

Processing System: Wet-Process, dried on raised beds

Appearance: 16-18 Screen

Cupping Notes: 60 seconds after first crack for cupping roast level (Cinnamon)

Aroma/Flavor: Green tea, jasmine, rose, chamomile, sugarcane

Acidity: Delicate lemon acid, raspberry, floral/herbal acid, mint, lively yet subtle acidity

Complexity and Other: Very fresh, clean and flawless, silky smooth, aftertaste filled with bright, beautiful sweetness

Overall Style Characteristics: Jasmine floral, clean, silky, fully expressing the beauty of washed beans

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Grind Size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 3.5

Brewing Method: Coffee-to-water ratio 1:15, 15g of coffee grounds. First pour 25g of water, bloom for 25 seconds. Second pour to 120g, then stop. When the water level in the coffee bed drops to half, continue pouring slowly until reaching 225g. Extraction time approximately 2:00.

Analysis: The three-stage pour clearly distinguishes the front, middle, and back of the cup. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, pausing the pour helps extend the extraction time.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For the clean, floral character of a washed Ethiopian coffee like this one, FrontStreet Coffee suggests these lots.

FrontStreet Washed Yirgacheffe

The classic entry into Ethiopian coffee, with clear white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like body—clean and elegant at a friendly price.

FrontStreet Gotiti Cooperative

A washed single-terroir lot from Gotiti village in the Worka area, from a cooperative of about 300 farmers. Washing lets the bean's own aromatics lead, showing citrus and lemon notes with elegant white florals. Bright and refined start to finish.

FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry

A natural counterpart to the washed style. Only fully ripe, sound cherries are used, dried for two weeks until moisture falls to 12%. The cup keeps the classic Yirgacheffe profile while adding tropical fruit—peach, cocoa, honey, and lemon.