Single Origin: Ethiopia

It seems right to start the conversation with the Ethiopian, because in many ways, so did the rest of the world. For a period of time, a coffee-less world sat quietly and watched as an Ethiopian farmer and his goat (sound familiar?) frolicked around from the natural coffee rise, for the very first time. This quickly spread to the point where, even centuries later, a local Florida coffee roaster would roast it on a regular basis.

The interesting part, however, lies somewhere in between. The story lies in how a single plant gets halfway around the globe and into your cup.

Growing coffee is a complicated process. There’s no elementary measure when it comes to upholding the quality of the crop that would eventually kick-start your morning.

For example, coffee largely isn’t grown in America—nature simply disqualified us. We don’t have the soil, climate, or altitude (with a small exception). The seemingly opposite location, however, would be Ethiopia, which is one of the world's top producing coffee countries. As if it were designed for the sole task of growing coffee, Ethiopia beautifully encompasses nutrient-rich volcanic soil, ideal climate, and altitudes nearly reaching 9,000 feet.

Add a little solar energy, photosynthesis, and boom: a cup of coffee (not quite).

Ethiopian coffee is legendary for a number of reasons, many of which contribute to its taste. Our current Ethiopian, for example, was hand-picked and processed using a washed method. This means the coffee cherry has its outer fruit-layer removed though a water-based fermentation and some scrubbing.

This process contributes to the clarity of flavor present in the cup. If you try our Ethiopian, you’ll find that its flavor exists somewhere in between cleanliness and complexity.

Its jasmine aroma arrives subtlety while its notes of lemon-lime politely make their way in.

The alternate to this would be naturally processed coffees, like our Honduras, which aren’t so polite; punching you in the face with fruit-forward flavor.

But we’ll get to those another time.

Once the beans are processed and packaged, they begin their journey to Tallahassee where we do the rest. Depending on the story the coffee tells us when it arrives, we respond accordingly.

Each of our single origin coffees is unique. Each one has a story to tell, and each one has earned its place on our shelf. Don’t take our word for it, come by and try one for yourself!