Ethiopia Ardi Natural Process



It is well known that Ethiopia is the birthplace of the Arabica coffee species, but also shares the distinction as being the cradle of human evolution.  This natural process coffee is named after Ardipithecus ramidus, believed to be the oldest hominid skeleton found dating back to 4.4 milion years.

Ardi has been developed by one of our importers, and is made up of coffees grown by a collective of small farmers in the Guji Zone, located in the Southwest region of Sidama.

This is a superior example of a natural process coffee. Despite being the oldest process method great naturals require a great deal of care and work to achieve their greatest potential.

In the case of Ardi, the ripe coffee is picked and immediately brought to the local mill where it is sorted and placed on raised beds for 8-10 days. It is raked every 30 minutes to promote even drying. This is followed by 2-3 days of final drying on concrete patios when finally the dried fruit is mechanically removed from the seeds and screened before bagging.

All of these steps contribute to make Ardi the exceptional coffee that it is: Luscious and expressive with fresh clean red and tropical fruit flavours, subtle florals, and a long elegant sweet finish.