Jeanne: I’ve mentioned Elan Amaro Gayo before as being exported by the only woman coffee exporter in Ethiopia, whose pickers are 80% women, and no doubt this accounts for a major part of the superb flavour of this Arabica coffee. According to Joel Lumagbas of the Philippine Coffee Board, whose expertise on all matters pertaining to coffee growing I tapped for a coffee production project in the Ikalahan community of Imugan, Nueva Vizcaya in 2012, women make the best coffee farmers. Why so? Because, he said, they are meticulous in selecting only the fully red, and thus ripest, berries when harvesting by hand. (And in Imugan, as in other traditional Philippine montane farming communities, women have always beenthe farming experts. In the ancient division of montane agricultural labour, men were responsible for clearing and stabilizing the slopes and preparing them for planting by their womenfolk. I anticipate an especially distinctive Imugan Arabica coffee — I wish to call it Kalahan coffee or Kape Kalahan – arising out of this sustainable development project in 5 – 6 years’ time.)
But the full range and diversity of flavours of Elan Amaro Gayo (EAG), or any other Arabica, coffee is not attained until after harvest. EAG develops its incomparable flavour spectrum as it dries — the seeds (the coffee “beans”), normally two, remain inside the fruits (the coffee “cherries” or “berries”) as they are laid in the sun to dry. It is the natural action of the Ethiopian highland sun gradually working its magic on the coffee fruits — the length of time from about 3 to 5 weeks — that leads to EAG’s enhanced fruitiness, lower acidity, and creaminess or increased “body.”
