Washed Ethiopian Hambela Estate

Happy May you all! Last weekend was the Downtown Car Show, and my daughter thought we should definitely take a red convertible home with us. That’s what she wanted to ride in anyway. The Car Show is always fun to walk around with the kids, and since we stopped by in the morning, it wasn’t too hot. We followed up the Car Show with a little league game, so it was a full day.

With my kids last Mother’s Day

This weekend is Mother’s Day. I appreciate my mother and all the time she poured into my siblings and I growing up. Since there were four of us, she was always busy. I think that’s probably why she taught us to read, so that she could have a bit of space while our noses were stuck in books. And there was a lot of playtime outside too, which I totally understand as a mother myself. There’s not much that my kids like more than time outside.

Mothering can be a great chore, and it can be greatly rewarding–sometimes both within the same day. I have learned so much from my kids, like all about baseball and ballet, and also about myself. They certainly work daily to teach me patience 🙂 I know that I am fortunate to be a mother. Since this business was started by a mother of four boys (talk about needing patience!), we would like to salute all mothers. Happy Mother’s Day!

This week we have another Ethiopian coffee for you. We wanted to feature these two coffees in consecutive weeks, to give you the opportunity to taste the difference in processing. Last week we featured our Natural Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, which is dry-processed, and full of berry tones. This week we are highlighting our Washed Ethiopian Hambela Estate, which is a wet-processed bean (thus “washed”).

This Washed Ethiopian comes from a third generation family business. It has a rich history, that began with land given to the matriarch of the family, who was the first female pilot in Africa. It is now managed by Aman Adinew, and he is committed to the community around them. He helped establish healthcare for employees and sponsored a local elementary school.

Hambela Estate is also committed to quality coffee, and their business, METAD, “has the first and only private state-of-the-art SCAA certified coffee quality control lab on the African continent used to train both domestic and international coffee professionals”–according to this profile sheet.

It is also from indigenous heirloom cultivars, like our Natural Ethiopian. This one, however, is fully washed and dried on raised beds. It is a beautifully prepped coffee. In the cup it has a very different flavor than the Natural Ethiopian. It starts with light citrus flavors, and then as you swallow you get a stone fruit taste. There is none of the blueberry flavors that are so predominant in the other Ethiopian.

We want you to be able to try these two coffees side by side. You can try a cup on us this week with the code coffee’s origins.* Ethiopia is well-known as the birthplace of coffee. Look for the differences between these two beans. Enjoy, and Happy Mother’s Day!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Washed Ethiopian Hambela Estate. Code expires on 5.12.16. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value.