The Testi West Arsi Washing Station was established in 2010 and serves about 850 smallholder producers in the area.
The farmers deliver their cherry to the washing station, where it is depulped, fermented for 24–48 hours, and washed before being dried on raised beds for 12-15 days.
Testi is a family-owned producer and exporter in Ethiopia. They own a farm and washing stations in the Guji region, and have relationships with partners in Limu and also West Arsi – where this coffee was grown.
Ethiopia’s going through an unusual shift in coffee production, with the formerly tightly government controlled coffee production and export business going through a wave of deregulation.
Until recently all coffee was traded through the Ethiopian Coffee Exchange (ECX). As part of the ECX sale process separate growing lots were typically mixed, making traceability difficult. This in turn meant that exceptional small lots of coffee were blended with lesser quality, reducing their value.
The recent opening up of coffee trade and export outside the ECX has made it possible to find and share coffees such as this one.
