GOTITI - Ethiopia

Gotiti is back, and this time it’s the new crop! If you tried the Gotiti I roasted earlier in the year, this is a new harvest from the same coffee-growing community in Ethiopia.

This washed Ethiopian coffee comes from Eva Gotiti washing station in Gotiti, Gedeb, within the Gedeo Zone of southern Ethiopia. Established in 2022 on a two-hectare site, the station processes cherries from 868 farmers growing coffee in small gardens nearby. The varieties grown include 7454, 74110, 7440 and 74112.

For me, those details are an important part of the story. Behind a lot like this are hundreds of individual growers, with the washing station bringing their work together through careful processing and keeping track of each lot.

Once delivered, the cherries are cleaned to remove leaves, stones and other debris, then washed and pulped to separate the fruit from the beans. The beans are fermented in water tanks under controlled temperatures to break down the remaining sticky fruit layer, known as mucilage, before being washed again.

The coffee then spends around 10–14 days drying on raised beds, still protected by its parchment layer. It’s turned regularly throughout the day and covered during the midday heat and overnight to help manage drying. Once dry, the parchment coffee rests in storage for around 20 days before onward shipping. Lots are kept separate for cupping and assessment, with records maintained from farm through to export.

The station also works to reduce water use and separates coffee pulp from wastewater. Alongside its six permanent staff and six seasonal workers, it provides temporary work for 244 people during the season.

Its support for the surrounding farming community includes distributing coffee seedlings, offering financial assistance to disadvantaged farmers and paying premiums linked to coffee deliveries. Plans for the station’s future include expanding the site, developing an underground water source and adding drying equipment and solar tunnels.

I’m pleased to have Gotiti back in the Freda line-up, and I’m looking forward to sharing this new harvest with you.