On my December trip around rural Ethiopia, I recorded some travel notes and related thoughts over my morning coffee. Here they are…
Traveling to EthiopiaEthiopia, formerly known as Abyssinia, or a coffee cultivar: Ethiopia, or more specifically the Empire under Haile Selassie, was known as Abyssinia. The name is Latin, derived from... makes me think. But in the long, busy days buzzing around the dirt roads from coffee farm to coffee washing stationIn Rwanda and some other East African countries, a wet mill is called a Washing Station.: In Rwanda and some other East African countries, a wet mill is..., sometimes 10 in a day, I rarely have time to reflect.
In the morning though, I usually get up very early, brew some coffee in my room using an Aeropress
A portable coffee brewer that makes a unique dense brew, somewhat similar to an Americano.: The Aeropress looks like a giant syringe: coffee grounds are in the bottom,..., and think about the day ahead, the day prior, or just about coffee and travel in general.
I take time to process what I have learned listening to others all day, their patient answers to my questions. And I try to synthesize that into something that makes some sense to me.
They aren’t perfect. They are monologues. They are a little embarrassing. But there are some good raw ideas in here, perhaps. I have 8-9 episodes if I can bear to post them all! It’s a bit much.
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An acid that adds to favorable perceptions of cup quality; malic acid often adds apple-like acidity, and perhaps other taste aspects recalling apples. Malic acid is yet another... Podcasts and on Spotify Podcasts.
Ethiopia 1 – Agaro: The Losing Battle of Coops vs. Private Exporters (12 Minutes)
In Agaro town in the Western coffee regionRegion is a more specific area within the country. Arabica coffee grows roughly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Country of Origin is where... near Jimma and Lime. It feels like I am 70% in Ethiopia and 30% still back in Oakland. Despite jet lag, I talk about what I have learned so far about the competition for coffee cherryOriginally coffee literature referred to the fruit of the tree as a "berry" but in time it became a cherry. It is of course neither. Nor is the..., and how the cooperatives are at a disadvantage when well-funded exporters open up coffee stations in the area. It’s not all bad. Coffee farmers are selling cherry
Either a flavor in the coffee, or referring to the fruit of the coffee tree, which somewhat resembles a red cherry.: Either a flavor in the coffee, or... at high prices, which helps offset local inflation.
Ethiopia 2 – Jimma, Coffee Travel and Coffee Marketing (9 Minutes)
I am in the larger town of Jimma, I think the euphoria of returning to the dirt roads of Ethiopia wore off a bit. It was probably all the dust. Feeling a bit drained, but still happy to be back in Ethiopia, I reflect a bit on coffee travel. I have always had a problematic relationship with using coffee travel to sell coffee, to create marketing material. But in the end I feel coffee can be a pretty straightforward product, and that’s not bad at all. I was going to skip including this one honestly, but decided to keep it in the end.
Part 3 etc…. it’s a long and depressing one so don’t expect much…
Our podcasts can also be found on AppleApple-like flavors in coffee can take on many different forms. The more common ones we use relate to malic acid brightness, which can recall different apple types: green... Podcasts and on Spotify Podcasts.
