With great genetic diversity and ideal growing conditions, Ethiopia is considered by many to produce some of the best coffees in the world. The birthplace of coffee, this country cultivates varieties from a gene pool that dates back more than a millennium. It is no wonder that such richly complex and beautiful coffees can be found coming from Ethiopia. Unlike the rest of the coffee producing world, Ethiopia still has many wild growing coffee plants. Varieties have evolved naturally and as such are incredibly well adapted to their surroundings. To the point that chemical inputs (fertilizers), pesticides, herbicides and fungicides are rarely found in Ethiopia. The majority of coffee produced there is organic in the truest sense of the word (whether certified as such or not). The landraces in Ethiopia are genetically very similar to the Typica varieties of Yemen that made their way to Indonesia, by way of India, in the 1600's. 

Matahara is the name given to a lot of coffee that was first purchased through the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) by Moplaco, an exporter in Ethiopia. Since the 2007-2008 harvest, nearly all coffee in Ethiopia is sold through the exchange by government mandate; adapting to this change, Moplaco has found a unique niche by purchasing coffees through the exchange, then further cleaning them to the buyers specification -- in this case, we purchased the coffee from The Collaborative Coffee Source, an Oslo-based importer we've collaborated with to specially purchase several lots over the past two years.

This level of post-purchase sorting is unique, and results in exceptionally clean coffee. In the cup, we get a lot of sweet lemony candy, mellow soft florals, and exceptionally silky mouthfeel.