Since our first opportunities to taste dry process lots from Ethiopian producer Ture Waji and his team at Sookoo coffee, we identified something exceptional in the creamy sweetness and pleasantly clean and fruity cup profile on offer. With perennial favorites such as the crowd-pleasing Bookkisa lots always top of mind, we’ve remained on the lookout for additional exciting coffees from Ture and his team and are delighted to be releasing this Shoondisa Reserve Lot as yet another delicious example of their hard work and dedication to top quality dry processed coffees.

David Stallings - Osito

Ture Waji is often referred to as “The King of Guji” in specialty coffee circles, and for good reason: he has been the person behind many of the cleanest, terroir-driven Ethiopian naturals that we at Passenger have had the pleasure of tasting. Our green buying team first became aware of Ture during the years that he was working as a quality manager at two respected private estates in southern Ethiopia: Mormora and Guji Highlands. Since that time, Ture established Sookoo Coffee with his brother Assefa, exported his first lots in 2018/2019, and currently operates processing sites in Odo Shakiso and Uraga. As one of Passenger’s longest-standing contacts in Ethiopia, we have had this talented producer to thank for many memorably delicious coffees over the years.

This Shoondhisa Dry Process lot is a community lot, meaning that it is composed of coffee delivered to the Sookoo site in Odo Shakiso by a community of farmers who live in the neighboring kebele of Shoondhisa (a kebele is the smallest administrative unit in Ethiopia). It’s primarily composed of varieties (74110 and 74112) that were selected for their yield potential and resistance to coffee berry disease by researchers at the Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC). Since their original identification and selection from the Illubabor forest in the 1970’s, these particular JARC selections have become some of the most commonly cultivated coffee varieties in Ethiopia¹.

As with any other processing method, top quality dry processed coffees simply do not happen by accident. Ture and his team train the farmers they buy from to only deliver coffee harvested at peak ripeness and they sort and dry the coffee cherries with incredible attention to detail after delivery. When drying the coffee on raised beds, great care is taken to remove underripe and overripe cherries by hand while the coffee is still fresh. Sorting early is important due to the fact that, once the coffee has dried for some time, color differences between the cherries are much less apparent. Ture’s team also keeps the depth of the coffee on the beds at 4cm or less and turns the coffee about 6 times a day to ensure even drying. When drying is complete, the coffee “pods” are rested in jute bags before undergoing multiple rounds of hand-sorting and optical sorting after hulling to remove defective beans

1. Bekele, Getu, and Timothy Hill. A Reference Guide to Ethiopian Coffee Varieties. Durham, N.C.: Counter Culture Coffee, 2018