Siko, Etiopia

Siko Washing Station

The Siko washing station was founded in 2017, and it sits at 2100 - 2250 masl in the Siko village of Uraga, Guji.

The station buys cherries from around 500 neighbouring farmers, whose farms also sit at high altitudes of 2100 - 2250 masl. The farmers’ average plot size is approximately 0.5 - 2 hectares.

The land’s rich, fertile, red soils, combined with constant sunlight exposure, allow the well-trained farmers to grow high quality coffee we keep coming back for.

Harvest & Post-Harvest

The cherries are collected manually and hand sorted later.

They are wet-fermented for 24 to 72 hours, depending on the weather. The coffees are then washed in channels, and graded in water by density. The ones with lower density (lower quality) will float and are removed, leaving only the denser, and therefore higher quality beans, which are separated as higher grade lots.

After fermentation, soaking takes place for 6 hours. The coffee is then piled up in layers which are 2 cm in height, but adjusted according to the climate. It is then dried over a 13-day period, followed by hand sorting for 2-4 hours.