Those that have been enjoying our coffee for some time will no doubt remember Duromina. Last year we were fortunate to have the opportunity to secure a few hundred kilograms of coffee from this washing station and share it with you. This year we’re back, and in a much more significant volume.

Securing the coffees you want in Ethiopia can be difficult, and requires planning, travel and some good fortune. Relationships between farmers, unions, exporters, importers and indeed other green coffee buyers tends to dictate who gets to ‘look at’ which samples. Then, in many cases the opportunity to actually purchase those coffees requires both decisiveness, luck, timing and persistence. Balance this against the need to thoroughly, sincerely and comprehensively explore all the options available in the hope of landing the best possible quality, and you’ll appreciate that while rewarding is so many ways, the experience can also be both stressful and exhausting.

So, it’s amongst the extensive travel and seemingly endless cupping that securing a brilliant selection like Duromina is one of the moments you rejoice in. Not only did this coffee perform so well for us last year, but in numerous blind evaluations in Ethiopia this season — both on our first trip in January and then again on our return in March — this particular lot kept rising to the top.

The coffee comes to us from the western part of Ethiopia known as the Oromia region, close to the towns of Agaro and Jimma. Back in 2010 a group of farmers, supported by the N.G.O., TechnoServe and a four-year bank loan, formed a co-operative and built their own washing station. Previously, these farmers had sold their coffee cherries directly to local traders for a very low price, and their pickings were processed, blended and sold as the incredibly low grade ‘Jimma 5’.

By building and operating their own washing station the co-operative members and administrators have been able to focus on raising the quality of their coffee, thus commanding a much higher price, and better returns for the farmers. In fact, there’s some debate as to the translation of ‘Duromina’ itself, with some claiming it means ‘Improve their lives’ while others contend it’s closer to ‘Make more money!’. It’s safe to conclude that in this largely agricultural community in Ethiopia, the two concepts are inextricably-linked.