Three days in the Guji highlands

The drive up from Shakiso takes longer than it should, and then the beds appear all at once: long rows of raised mesh under shade cloth, cherry turned by hand every couple of hours.

Slow is the whole technique

Drying is where a good harvest becomes a good coffee, or stops being one. Move too fast and the outside of the bean dries while the inside stays wet, which shows up months later as a cup that opens well and hollows out by week three. Move too slowly in humid air and you invite ferment.

The producers we buy from in Guji dry over eighteen to twenty-one days, shading through the hottest hours and pulling the beds under cover at night. It is labour-intensive, and it is the single reason these lots hold their sweetness through a full year in the warehouse.

What we were checking

Moisture readings across different beds and different depths, bed density, and how the turning schedule holds up at the end of a long day. We also cup the previous day’s separations with the mill team, so the feedback lands while there is still a harvest left to adjust.

By the time a lot reaches the roastery, every decision that matters has already been made.

We left with three separations we want and one we will pass on. The pass is part of the job.