After spending the past month in Ethiopia warehouses cupping with Agaro-based cooperative union Kata Muduga leadership, we’re anticipating a truly exceptional season quality-wise. We will be on the ground in Ethiopia through milling and shipment, making sure all our purchases for the year are milled to our highest standards and depart the country exactly when we expect them to.
All of the Agaro coffees we’re bringing in this year have names that preceed them. These are famous washing stations with unique and distinct character. Grab your share now because they will go fast.
This Year’s Fruitbasket
Here’s what we got this year. Notes are directly from Red Fox President and Co-Founder Aleco Chigounis:
Duromina: For many, the pearl of Agaro. This coffee is yellow-fruited in nature from top to bottom. I’m tasting bowls of fruit salad brimming with ripe mango, tangy passion fruit, and pineapple so perfect you’ve caught the fleeting balance between sweetness and acidity.
Yukro: The top lots from the rare Yukro seasons that we buy from are floral-forward with a refined elegance that makes coffees from this coop completely distinct from the other Agaro sites. Honeysuckle from start to finish. True, refreshing blueberry tones. This is a coffee for folks who appreciate the subtlety of flavor and understand that dynamism doesn’t always need to come with a slap in the face.
Nano Challa: The coffee that started our obsession with Western Ethiopia a couple of decades ago. Passionfruit, sparkling grapejuice, crystal clear white honey character with a spicy, candied ginger finish all mesh seamlessly to form a powerful cup profile.
Nano Genji: Nano Genji is the sister site to Nano Challa, located deep in the forests of Gera not far from the border with Keffa. The flavor profile is laden with berry bramble; huckleberry, wild strawberry and ripe, bright blackberry. The finish is ultrasweet and clean along the lines of peach tea.
Ancient History, Persistent Excellenc
Those of you who have been in the Red Fox mix for a minute know that Agaro is a staple region for us. Our relationships with the cooperatives in Gera and Gomma stem back to the Gates Foundation coffee era when Red Fox CEO and co-founder Aleco started buying these coffees in 2008.
Back then, coffees from the area were produced, processed, and offered as only Jimma-5 naturals. Nicely put, they were not specialty coffee. Everything changed with the advent of the Technoserve-built washing stations that are now nearly 20 years old.
We love bringing in coffee as early as possible, and Agaro in Western Ethiopia offers the perk of reaching full harvest before comparable lots in Southern Ethiopia. Due to our years of loyalty, we also get rights of first refusal and shipment here, which we use to the fullest advantage.
Interested in sourcing coffee with us? Reach out at info@redfoxcoffeemerchants.com. To learn more about our work, check out our journal and follow us on Instagram @redfoxcoffeemerchants.