Eric Duchossoy, our roaster and finder of great coffees, returns from a two-week trip to the heart of one of the countries where coffee originated: Ethiopia.
When you land in Addis Ababa, at an altitude of 2,300 m, you wouldn't suspect that Ethiopia is the greenest country in Africa. But as soon as you leave the capital, you find fertile valleys and mountains with a mild climate, perfect for coffee plants.
Coffee cultivation is one of the country's primary resources: it covers an area of 400,000 hectares and total production is around 230,000 tonnes per year, more than half of which is consumed locally, which is rare for an African country.
