Ethiopia Qilenso: Sample Coffee Roasters

Ethiopia
Qilenso

We find flavours of grape jelly and lemongrass tea

Body Acidity

Qilenso is a privately owned washing station in Ethiopia’s Guji region – one of several regions which were previously grouped together under the wider area of Sidamo.

The washing station’s name, pronounced “Kilen-so,” translates to ‘Air.’

Coffee cherries are produced and delivered daily to Qilenso by 550-600 nearby small producers, who mostly farm organically on small plots of land of around 0.7 hectares.

Washed method involves hand-sorting coffee cherries to remove any damaged or unripe fruit, then the skin of the cherries is removed using a simple disc pulper.

The resulting coffee is then graded by weight; heavier beans are superior quality and deliver a sweeter cup. The lot we’re sharing is Grade 1, indicating that it’s the very best quality.

After grading, the parchment-covered coffee is then soaked in tanks of clean water for 16–48 hours to remove the mucilage (the fleshy pulp around the bean) by allowing it to ferment and detach from the coffee.

The coffee is then re-washed and graded again by density in washing channels and then dried for 10–15 days on African drying beds. The coffee is covered at midday to protect from full sun and overnight to prevent damage from morning dew.

Sourcing and ingredients

100% Bourbon, Typica, and Ethiopian Heirloom coffee beans, provided by Melbourne Coffee Merchants and roasted by us on Gadigal land / Sydney.

Country grade: Unknown ?

Packaging

Bag: ABA Certified home compostable
Label: Recyclable
Valve (on bags larger than 250g): General waste
Coffee ordered online is shipped in a recyclable cardboard box

Brewing this coffee

We recommend brewing this coffee 15–49 days post-roast. If pre-ground, brew as soon as possible. Our advice on storing coffee.

1:3
dose:yield
ratio

To brew on espresso, we recommend using 20g of beans (dose) to get 60g of espresso out (yield), during 24-28 seconds.

g dose

g yield

View the how to brew espresso (single origin) guide.

1:16.7
beans:water
ratio

To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16.7 ratio of beans:water.

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:14.3
beans:water
ratio

To brew in immersion brewers (plunger, AeroPress, Kalita, batch brewer) we recommend using a 1:14.3 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:12
beans:water
ratio

To brew as cold brew we recommend using a 1:12 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

Country: Ethiopia
Region: Guji, Sidamo
Altitude: 1900 - 2000m above sea level
Varietals: Bourbon, Typica, and Ethiopian Heirloom
Process: Washed
Harvested: December 2016
Body: Medium
Acidity: Balanced
Tasting notes: Grape jelly and lemongrass tea
Roast style: Omni

Varietals

Bourbon varietal

A natural mutation of the Typica varietal, Bourbon is named after Reunion Island (then known as Il Bourbon) where the French cultivated the Typica plants which naturally mutated.

Ethiopian Heirloom varietal

Heirloom (or sometimes Landrace) is an umbrella term that refers to all the coffee varietals endemic to Ethiopia.

Typica varietal

Considered to be one of the ‘genus’ varietals from which all other varietals have mutated from

The location

Coffee from Ethiopia

Seen as the birthplace of domesticated coffee, there are not many more exciting times at the Sample warehouse as when our fresh Ethiopian lots arrive. Legend says it’s our favourite origin…

The Sidamo region of Ethiopia

Both ‘Sidamo’ and ‘Sidama’ can be used to describe coffees from this region, Sidama refers to the locals of the area. It grows some of the highest coffees in Ethiopia

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.