Roaster’s Report - Ethiopia Gotae Sodu

Source: Shared Source

Country: Ethiopia

Growing region: Guji

Elevation: 2200 masl

Coffee varieties Ethiopia Landraces

Processing: Washed and mechanically de-pulped, then soaked overnight and dried in the sun

Cupping Score: 86

Coffee Background

This coffee is from the Guji zone of what is known as the “Oromia” region by the coffee trade. It comes from a washing station owned by Abebe Mulugeta Kassa Genete and his son Sisay, located near the town (kebele) of Gotae Sodu. The smallholders who deliver to this washing station pick from trees in a semi-forested land. Like many areas of Ethiopia, the coffee farms are more like forests, with many indigenous tree species planted throughout. Smallholders deliver their cherries to this wet mill throughout the harvest season, picking in the morning and bringing cherry for delivery in the afternoon, where it’s de-pulped, and then left to ferment for between 24-60 hours. The coffee is soaked in water for about 5 hours before being washed, and then dried on the raised drying beds. It’s frequently raked so that the moisture is homogenous and drying is even. The parchment rests before being dry milled and prepared for export at a mill in Addis Ababa.

Shared Source has worked with Abebe Mulugeta’s son Sisay (Abebe Mulugeta owns the Gotae Sodu washing station) for five years now to dry mill coffee in Ethiopia, and we’ve been impressed with this organization, clear labeling, and milling services. This is our first year purchasing from the family’s washing station!

While Shared Source spent many, many hours sourcing the coffee (selecting it among many other lots, visiting the area, ensuring our lot was exported safely, reliably and in a timely fashion), we want to acknowledge that our work here is only on the quality preservation side- the quality creation side is thanks entirely to the hundreds of pairs of hands of smallholder farmers and the organizational infrastructure provided by the washing station owner.

Pricing Transparency

In the 2024 buying season, Ethiopian government authorities set minimum coffee sales prices by region, coffee grade and seller type. The minimum pricing stipulated by the authorities for the grades and type we buy fluctuated between $4.20 and $4.40 a pound (FOB Djibouti) for G1 washed; $4.30 - $4.45 for naturals, and $3.10 - $3.30 for G2 washed during the buying season. We’re stoked that Ethiopia has managed to command such a premium above commodity coffee prices (roughly a 1/4 to a 1/3 of the above prices).

Green coffee transparency: 792lbs @ $6.00/lb, March 2025 (Commodity coffee price: $4.02/lb. Why is this important? Coffee pricing is complex and multifaceted, and sharing what we paid is an incomplete picture, but we believe in sharing the data we have available, hoping that will embolden others to do the same, with the ultimate goal of getting producers fairer pay for their excellent work.)

Length of Relationship: Shared Source since 2023

If you want to learn more about how we would brew this coffee, click here for our brew guides. Click here to buy coffee.