Ethiopian Mocha Djimmah Coffee

Djimmah (pronounced Jimma) is an inland city which is very near to Kaffa, the place of origin of coffee. Coffee still grows as part of the natural forest and is harvested from the upper branches of tall trees. If you enjoy Indian Mysore, then you will love our Ethiopian Mocha Djimmah coffee.

This coffee could arguably be called the original coffee. Legend has it that an Ethiopian goat herd called Kaldi noticed that his goats were dancing and bleating with joy after eating the red cherries from a certain bush. He took these cherries to the local Imam and they laughed at him and threw them in the fire. Within 20/30 minutes the smell of the roasting beans (the pips inside the cherries) drew the surprised Imam back to the fire with its delightful smell and after a few weeks of experimentation, coffee drinking was born approximately in the 9th century AD.

This legend seems to have been originally documented in the 16th century, indeed in 1587 Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir wrote: Coffee is the common mans gold and unlike gold it brings every man the feeling of luxury and nobility. Where coffee is served there is grace and splendour and friendship and happiness. All of our worries are banished as the coffee cup is raised to our lips. It is highly likely that the Sheikh was writing about Ethiopian or Yemini Mocha coffee.

Today coffee production near to Djimmah is almost exclusively small-holder grown. Coffee represents 60% of Ethiopia’s foreign income with approximately half of the 300,000 tonnes produced being exported. The remainder is consumed by the Ethiopians, who lead the African continent in their consumption of coffee. Coffee is farmed in the traditional way using a natural process (sun-drying) and Ethiopian government under the guise of the Coffee and Tea Authority deal exclusively with issues such as fixing the price at which the mills buy the coffee from the farms. This is a leftover from a nationalisation scheme that turned all of the countries coffee mills to farmers co-operatives. All coffee production in Ethiopia whether growing or processing is today heavily licensed by the Coffee and Tea Authority.

Coffee is so entwined in Ethiopian culture that one of their premier league football teams is called the Ethiopian Coffee Football Club (or Coff Coff for short) who regularly draw crowds of up to 35,000 to their home stadium in Addis Ababa.

The coffee itself is known for its body and winey, gamey taste. Djimmah tends to be grown at altitudes between 1340 and 1830 metres, this altitude provides an ideal climate for the coffee to grow with the plants also being protected from the midday sun by forest trees which also assist in preserving the moisture levels in the soil, giving this coffee its complex taste. The natural processing and sun drying of these beans along with careful mill processes ensures that the coffee from this area is consistent, tasty and always worthy of note.

If you are looking to enjoy genuine Turkish coffee, Mocha Djimmah is an excellent base for any blend you may consider making. If you enjoy Indian Mysore, then you will love our Ethiopian Mocha Djimmah coffee.