Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gedeb Worka Sakaro Washed

The Worka Sakaro washing station is part of an independent, family owned operation that raises the bar in one of the most competitive coffee markets in the world. It's got gentle acidity and subtle sweetness with excellent balance and a short, refreshing finish. Notes of lemonade, plum, lavender and jasmine.

Arrival Date: December 10th, 2021

Acidity & Brightness: Gentle acidity with subtle sweetness

Balance & Finish: Excellent balance with a short, refreshing finish

Body & Texture: Medium to full body, silky and tea-like

Flavors: Lavender, jasmine, lemonade and plum

Grade: Grade 1 grown at 2000-2200 masl

Processing: Fully Washed, sun dried on raised tables

Grower: 410 smallholder farmers organized around the independent Worka Sakaro washing station

Region: Gedeb District, Gedeo (Yirgacheffe) Zone

Varietals: Kurume, a local heirloom cultivar, and regional Ethiopian cultivars 74110 & 74112

Roasting: 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) and most folks will prefer a City + or at the tail end of first crack. Lighter roasts will have more sparkling citrus acidity and floral tones while medium roasts will accentuate more sweetness and fruit.

Reminder! This coffee is raw and must be roasted before brewing

"Worka Sakaro is a small municipality located on the eastern edge of the Gedeb district, part of the highly-coveted Gedeo Zone, a narrow section of plateau dense with savvy farmers whose coffee is known as “Yirgacheffe”, after the zone’s most famous district. Gedeb produces some of the most beautifully crisp and floral fully washed coffees one can find anywhere in Ethiopia. The coffee producing communities throughout Gedeb are larger here than in central Gedeo and can reach some of the highest growing elevations for coffee in the world. Worka Sakaro processing station was started by Mijane Woresa in 2011. For its first few years the station sold coffee the way most producers in the area did: through the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), where government cuppers would grade and position the coffee for sale to exporters. In 2017 Mr. Woresa secured an export license for himself, and, after 30 years of work in coffee, brought his son Daniel aboard, who then started a relationship with Royal. Today, Daniel Mijane runs the majority of day-to-day operations at the family’s two private stations (the other is in Halo Hartume, in the Northern corner of Gedeb), as well as the exporting itself." - Royal Coffee

We recently finished off a small supply of washed Grade 1 from Daniel Mijane's Halo Hartume washing station and we were so happy with it, we decided to try their Worka Sakaro station's offering as well! We also got in a natural from the Halo Hartume station which offers a nice comparison to this washed. I'm a little disappointed we didn't have both station's washed offerings in at the same time (the Halo Hartume washed is already sold out for the season) but I'm still incredibly happy we were able to continue to support a relatively small producer that has worked incredibly hard to make it in such a competitive market. As you can imagine, for an independent producer to stand out in the sea of amazing Yirgacheffe producers, they've got to hold themselves to a higher standard. Grade 1 coffee is the embodiment of that standard.

Our experience with Worka Sakaro's offering is very similar to Halo Hartume's, so if you missed out on that gem, this one stacks up nicely! The front end is gently bright and there's a short, refreshing finish. It's got a medium to full, tea-like body and great balance. The aroma and flavors are VERY floral forward with notes of lavender, jasmine, lemonade and plum.