Coffee from Ivory Coast

Coffee from Ivory Coast

Ethiopian coffees vary enormously; there are nine coffee-growing regions and more than a quarter of the population earn their living from coffee. Since there are very few chemical products used on these trees, it is probably still the most natural and pure coffee to be found on earth. In many places the trees still grow wild and the people simply collect the cherries.

The following coffee regions or individual coffees are almost always going to be good, and at times, may be utterly stunning in the cup; they may not all be a well-balanced cup of coffee, but they will be interesting: Ghimbi and Lekempti (from the western region); Djimah, Kaffa and Limu (from the south-west - note the name which generates one school of though on the origins of the word "qahwa"); Sidamo (the southern region): Harar (numerous coffees from this eastern zone are particularly "strong", "winey" and "gamey"). Some are washed, some are unwashed, and some are described as having "wild" flavors, but all are unusual. My favorite coffee is (or was) an Ethiopian Yergacheffe, which I suspect may have come from the Sidamo region. I have no idea if, or where, it is available, but I still remember - although it was more than 15 years ago - its exact taste, indefinable but exquisite, delicate and "light" in every way, including color.

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