About Nano Genji #16

We’re pleased to welcome Nano Genji, Nano Challa’s new sibling mill, into the Agaro family. Historically one of the most coveted coffees in all of Western Ethiopia, Nano Challa membership did such an amazing job with production and processing that the tremendous premiums they were receiving caused their membership to swell to a level that pushed their capacity as far as it could go. In 2019 they opened Nano Genji, a few miles away with brand new Penagos equipment, along with dozens of drying beds to accommodate their growing membership. With 630 members between the two washing stations, they’re looking forward to continued growth and success—and we’re looking forward to even more volume, and even better coffee this year and beyond.

Part of the larger Agaro region in Jimma, these coffees have always formed a core of the Red Fox menu. In fact, our relationship with Agaro extends back far before Red Fox was born. In 2009 when Aleco first traveled to meet the people behind the Nano Challa cooperatives, their coffees were flowing into the marketplace undifferentiated and undervalued.

Processing is meticulous in Agaro, after Penagos processing equipment mechanically removes most of the fruit and mucilage from the seeds, they soak overnight in fiberglass tanks, allowing any remaining sugars to be fully removed from their surface so that the coffees are perfectly clean by the time they hit the drying beds for the 8+ days they’ll need to dry.

They’re also the earliest Ethiopian coffees we bring in each year, with harvest in January and first shipments arriving as early as February depending on the year. They’re not early-harvest, they’re from Western Ethiopia, which has an earlier growing season.