Ethiopia Guji Dannissa Sookoo Natural Organic
This natural processed, certified organic offering comes to us from the Dannissa Farmer's Group. The group consists of just under 50 smallholder farmers still doing things the old fashioned way and proud of it. Their handiwork speaks for itself - silky, sweet and fruity with a snappy twang. We got notes of currant, raspberry, strawberry, pineapple and cane sugar.
In a world of mass production and monoculture farming, it’s easy to get cynical and assume coffee is produced the same way. But in most of our favorite origins, it’s still a small scale, manual affair using traditional methods that go back generations. A word we find commonly in our work is “smallholder”. These are farmers which we might just as easily call “homesteaders” today. They have small plots of land, a few hectares (1 hectare = 2.5 acres) at most, and they aren’t able to grow enough coffee to bring their coffee to international markets. So these smallholders often form cooperative groups with their neighbors to increase their combined crop size and thus their ability to bring their coffee to the market. Thus, groups like the Dannissa Farmer’s Group came to be.
Named for a local umbrella-like tree which provides shade for coffee plants, the Dannissa Farmer’s Group continues to practice old school cultivation methods: hand-picked, hand tilled and without chemical pesticides. With the help of local export experts Sookoo Coffee, organic certification was a breeze and we can now enjoy the fruits of their labor! Their generational coffee knowledge shines through in the cup. It’s silky, sweet and fruity with a nice twang. In our cups we noted currant, raspberry, strawberry, pineapple and cane sugar.
Arrival Date: December 12th, 2024. Harvest Season: 2024, packed in Ecotact bags
Acidity & Brightness: Tangy with fruity sweetness
Balance & Finish: Moderately balanced with a quick finish
Body & Texture: Medium bodied, silky
Flavors: Raspberry, strawberry, pineapple, currant, cane sugar
Grade: Grade 1 grown at 2,000 – 2,180 masl
Certifications: Organic
Processing: Natural (dry) processed, sun dried on raised beds
Grower: Dannissa Farmer’s Group | Sookoo Coffee
Region: Shakiso Town, Guji, Ethiopia
Varieties: Indigenous heirloom cultivars
Recommended Roast Range: City to Full City (Light to medium)
Start at City (light) or just in to a rolling first crack and go a bit darker as desired. We find it best not to go any darker than Full City (Medium, after the end of first crack but before 2nd crack) and most folks will prefer a City + or at the tail end of first crack. Lighter roasts will have a bit more brightness and a some nice florality while medium roasts will accentuate sugary tones and more rounded sweetness along with a touch more body.
Sucafina - "Farming methods in Guji remain largely traditional. Guji farmers typically intercrop their coffee plants with other food crops, including beans, peas and enset. This method is common among smallholders because it maximizes land use and provides food for their families. In addition to remaining traditionally intercropped, most farms are also traditional and organic-by-default. Farmers in Guji typically use very few—if any—fertilizers or pesticides. Most farm work is done manually and very few tasks are mechanized, even during processing. Due to the size of most plots, coffee is typically handpicked by landowners and their family.
Sucafina has worked with Sookoo coffee since 2019. Sookoo Coffee is a family-owned company led by Ture Waji. Sookoo produces high-quality organic and specialty coffee. Sookoo is named after the Ethiopian word for gold. Like gold, coffee is precious and Sookoo’s name reflects the care and attention they pay to their coffees.”
