ETHIOPIA DUWANCHO Natural premium

Duwancho is a privately-owned washing station that is located in the Arbegona woreda (administrative district) in Ethiopia’s Sidama zone. The washing station is found in the kebele (local village) of Chericho. The washing station is one of 26 owned and managed by Testi Coffee, a family-owned company founded by Mr Faysel A. Yonis.

Sitting at 2,250m above sea level, Duwancho produces exceptional washed, natural and special preparation lots. The site was built by Testi in 2021 as a ‘premium’ facility, and selected for its natural advantages – including its high elevation, the surrounding region’s characteristics and access to fresh, clean water. By choosing sites in areas favoured with great growing conditions and paying premiums for properly harvested fruit, Testi ensures they only receive extremely high quality cherry, resulting in outstanding complexity and distinction in the resulting cup.

Duwancho currently employs three permanent staff and around 160 seasonal workers, depending on how busy the season is. During harvest, freshly picked coffee cherry is delivered daily by some 500 independent outgrowers from the nearby kebeles of Duwancho, Chericho and Bare. At the washing station, Testi separates and processes each kebele’s cherry delivery as a distinct lot, providing extra traceability. This ‘premium’ microlot comes a group of 10 farmers who live close to the washing station — the relatively small number of contributing outgrowers adds to the distinct cup quality of this lot.

The majority of the families that contribute to the site farm organically on tiny plots of land, averaging less than one hectare in size. Coffee is their main cash crop and grows alongside food crops of corn, grain and bananas, under the shade of native Birbira, Wanza, and Acacia trees. The average elevation of the farms in this region is very high – around 2,000–2,200m above sea level – and this, combined region’s cool temperatures, is ideal for the slow ripening of coffee cherries, leading to denser beans and a sweeter, more complex cup profile.

This coffee lot was produced as part of Testi’s quality improvement initiative, Premium Cherry Selection (PCS). Launched in 2018, the Premium Cherry Selection program ensures that best practices are used for growing, harvesting and processing the coffee cherry. Through the program, Testi pay a premium to farmers who pick and deliver only the ripest cherries from their farms. Coffees produced as part of the program represent the highest quality and cleanest cup profile available from the washing station and wider region.