Refisa

Our coffee comes from the Nensebo woreda (district) of West Arsi in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Part of the Guji Zone, named after a tribe of the local Oromo peoples. The Refisa washing station collects the daily harvests of around 900 nearby smallholders. A smallholder cultivates an area of less than 1 hectare on average, with up to 1500 trees. The use of chemicals and pruning of shrubs is not typical, so the crop can be considered organic by default. The coffee cherries arriving at the station are sorted by hand, de-pulped and then placed in fermentation tanks for 36-48 hours, depending on the weather conditions, where wild yeast strains and bacteria characteristic of the environment take care of the fermentation. Then the coffee beans are washed and graded in channels followed by drying for 12-15 days on raised beds.