NOTES: ORANGE CITRUS, DELICATE BLACK TEA, STRAWBERRIES, CURRANTS,CHOCOLATE AND MAPLE

Meselech Tube has been farming coffee in Sidamo Bensa Daye since the 1990s. She inherited Shantaweyne Farm from her family and today, she supports her 6 children with the profits from her coffee business. Three of her adult children work on the farm with her.

Meselech’s goal is for her coffee to be known worldwide. To do this, she investing in specialty-quality cultivation and processing, and she wants buyers to know her commitment to improving quality and yields. Meselech intercrops coffee trees with banana, avocado and mango trees as well as timber tree and enset (false banana). She also has some livestock. She uses her animals’ manure as well as other organic farm byproducts to fertilize her coffee trees.

The harvest season typically runs from November to January. Meselech selectively handpicks ripe, red cherry and processes it on her farm. She dries cherry on raised beds and rakes them frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 2 to 3 weeks for cherry to dry.