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Ethiopia Organic Wolenso Dabessa SWP Decaf

Convincing base sweetness, with aromatic top notes, and accents of fruits and berries. Flavor profiles hint at molasses, date sugar, plum, and blackberry, with perceptible acidity in the lightest roasts. City to Full City.

$365.00
In stock
88.7
Full Cupping Notes

Available 1/26

This organic Ethiopian decaf was such a pleasure to taste alongside the others from our latest round processed by Swiss Water Decaf. Each had their own distinct flavor profiles that underscored their difference, something that is sadly missing in your average decaf. The dry grounds showed very nice level of sweetness, with notes of natural dried stone fruit, whole spice, and brown bread. I picked up on a subtle floral hint in the wet aroma, with very attractive honey and sugar cane notes. In the cup, dry process notes come through, and the fact that this is Ethiopian coffee was very clear! There was a layered sweetness of raw sugar notes, molasses, and more earthy date sugar. The accent notes mounted as the coffee cooled off a little, with pulpy red fruits and berries, such as blackberry, plum, and peach. My City roast had perceptible acidity too that came off a little like green tea, with its natural qualities and tannic bittering. If you're looking for a decaf option to enjoy light roasted, Wolenso Dabessa should be on your radar. I found fruit accents in my Full City roast too, but wouldn't personally go any darker.

  • Process Method Swiss Water Decaf
  • Cultivar Heirloom Types
  • Farm Gate Yes
  • Certifications Organic

This decaf originated from Dabessa coffee farm, located near the village of  Wolensu, in Limu Kossa region. This 150 hectare farm and processing site is owned and operated by Mesfin Dabessa and his family. They are producing both dry process and fully washed coffees, having erected a washing station onsite back in 2015. This lot is a dry process coffee, where the whole cherry is laid to dry on raised beds and not removed until both fruit and seed (green "bean") are down to 10-11% moisture. We've found that adding fruitier naturals to the equation helps lock in some of what we think of as Ethiopian origin characteristics, which is what we've done here. Wolenso Dabessa was acquired as part of a land grant by the government in 2008, where large areas of semi-forested area were given to farmers with the idea that planting coffee while preserving the natural forest canopy would be an improvement toward sustainability. While this is where Dabessa got his start, his father's history growing coffee in the region dates back to 1946. Dabessa's washing station happens to be on the site of his original farm. The farm and mill sit at around 1800 meters above sea level, and coffee is grown up to 2000. Check out the video tour we put together of Wolenso Dabessa HERE. We sent a chunk of this coffee off for decaffeination at Swiss Water Coffee in Vancouver, BC. and are thrilled with the results. The Swiss decaf method is one of the gentler processes, using only water to remove 99.9% of the decaf, and leaving some of the volatile compounds that affect flavor and aroma intact. 

Region Wolenso, Limu Kossa
Processing Dry Process (Natural), then Swiss Water Process Decaf
Drying Method Raised Bed Sun-Dried
Arrival date January 2024 Arrival
Lot size 112
Bag size 60 KG
Packaging GrainPro Liner
Certifications Certifications
Farm Gate Yes
Cultivar Detail Heirloom Cultivars
Grade Grade 1
Appearance .8 d/300gr, 15-17 Screen - some broken, misshapen beans from decaffeination
Roast Recommendations City to Full City
Type Farm Gate, Organic/Fair Trade Cert., Decaf