SHORE

Farm: Shore Ourago

Origin: Kochere, Ethiopia

Altitude: 1960 – 2020m

Process: Natural

Varietal: Deega, Wolisho

Notes: Blueberry pie, black tea, rose

This natty we sourced alongside Crop 2 Cup is a more gentle one. Not INSANE funk on it but controlled, pleasant fruit that leads into a tea-like flavour that this region of Ethiopia is so well known for. One that definitely does better as a drip coffee than espresso in our opinion. Enjoy this really well produced offering from Mr. Ourago as this is the first of many from him we hope to drink.

SHORE

Mr. Shore Ourago was introduced to us by way of a network of smallholder farmer exporters in Sidama and Yirgacheffe. Shore’s son, Adugna, is the organizer of this smallholder group, having grown up in a strong coffee producing family. In the 1940s Shore’s father (Adugna’s grandfather) was a farmer in the then-sparsely populated Kochere highlands. He began planting coffee after purchasing 10 hectares of land in the neighboring Kebele, Rego. Shore grew up assisting the family business and began his life carrying out the same work as his father. Coffee farming is his one and only life business, says Shore, and he now employs 22 staff during peak harvest.
Shore manages his farm by using organic manure, intercropping with nitrogen fixing plants and shade trees. While his farm is too small to cover the cost of organic certification, he says he manages his farm organically to best support the coffee tree varieties native to his region. In the community he contributes funds for local school administration and road construction.
The smallholder-exporter context is a difficult one, requiring large enough volumes for a single farmer to export and the knowledge and means to register as an exporter and properly arrange all documentation. Adugna provides this service to both his father (Shore) and several dozen other farmers he supports throughout Sidama and Yirgacheffe.