What Variety is Ethiopian Landrace WushWush?

Introduction to Wush Wush Coffee Varieties

In Ethiopia, besides native varieties, in recent years we've increasingly seen other varieties such as the 74 series, Wush Wush, and Dega. Among them, Wush Wush, a variety with a charming name when pronounced, may have limited options on the market, yet whenever it appears, it always seems to attract the attention of coffee enthusiasts. So, rather than waiting for the perfect day, today FrontStreet Coffee will introduce this variety to everyone.

Origins of Wush Wush

Like the famous Gesha, Wush Wush is also a heirloom coffee from Ethiopia, discovered in a small village called Wush Wush, located within Gimbo town, just a few kilometers from the Kafa biosphere. Wush Wush village is renowned for its fertile highlands, which not only preserve the variety now popular in the coffee world but also produce a high-quality tea of the same name, widely celebrated.

Development of Disease-Resistant Varieties

In 1970, a severe coffee anthracnose epidemic swept across Ethiopia. This disease had previously caused a reduction of over 70% in Kenya's coffee production. Therefore, to combat anthracnose, Ethiopia's renowned Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC) hoped to select and breed varieties naturally resistant to anthracnose from wild coffee species.

To this end, JARC explored the areas covered by primary forests in western Ethiopia, including Bishari, Gera, Wasi, and Wush Wush, among others. Since this is the center of origin of Arabica with complex genetic diversity, researchers selected hundreds of coffee plants to bring back to their laboratory.

The 74 Series Varieties

After years of research and cultivation, in 1978, JARC selected a total of 13 anthracnose-resistant varieties and began promoting their cultivation throughout Ethiopia. According to the selection year, these varieties were designated with corresponding "74***" or "75***" codes. At this point, fans of Ethiopian coffee should recognize that these are the origins of today's famous 74110 and 74158 varieties. Indeed, beans such as Santa Verna and Alo on FrontStreet Coffee's menu are precisely the 74158 variety.

Refinement of Wush Wush

Around 2002, JARC again focused on 25 anthracnose-resistant coffee varieties selected from Wush Wush village, continuing their cultivation and purification. They discovered that these varieties were not only disease-resistant but also had excellent flavor profiles. In 2006, JARC officially released the purified Wush Wush variety, which requires cultivation at high altitudes between 1700-2100 meters, thus giving rise to today's highly sought-after coffee.

Wush Wush in Colombia

However, FrontStreet Coffee discovered that, compared to its native Ethiopia, most Wush Wush sold on the market actually comes from another continent—Colombia. In terms of production volume, Colombia's Wush Wush has long surpassed that of Ethiopia, becoming this variety's second home. So how did a variety from a small Ethiopian town come to appear in Colombia?

In the late 1970s, Colombia's National Coffee Research Center, Cenicafé, brought Wush Wush coffee seedlings from Ethiopia for cultivation and research. After selection and cultivation by researchers, the seedlings began to be distributed to representative farms in various regions of Colombia between 1980 and 1990 for the first trials.

Thus, Wush Wush not only settled in Colombia but also gradually developed stronger adaptability through the differences brought by various farms' unique terroirs, climates, soils, and cultivation methods. Today, this variety has spread throughout Colombia's Santander, Quindio, Tolima, and Huila provinces, and due to each region's terroir, it has developed different flavor and cupping characteristics.

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