What Ever Happened to Ethiopian Harar Coffee?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.พ. 2024
- Harar coffee is still produced, exported and available ... but not like it was 20 years ago in the early days of Sweet Maria's. In this slideshow from my old trips to Harar, I try to answer some of the questions we receive lately about Harar coffee. Why does it seem hard to find? What changed?
(Actually Harar lots have been on our cupping table ... but we just have not found lots that are good enough to offer.)
Spoiler: The short answer is a. lack of water in a region with a growing population, b. the production of the stimulant shrub called Khat, or Ch'at, c. limited coffee production area. I am sure there are other forces at play too, and I am no expert on Harar or Ethiopia ... but I wanted to narrate some photos, share what experience I have, and reminisce about Harar coffee of the 2000s! -Thompson
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Thanks for that virtual tour. The first specialty coffee I ever bought on my own was Harrar from Cost Plus. I think this was circa 1984 and it was really great with the classic blueberry profile. So if you could score some, it might help bring back my youth!
Loved your Harrar Horse dry process coffee Tom. Thought I saw a slide in that deck of a fellow holding a jute bag with horse illustration on it. Grateful for this explanation, and tour. Hope you’re able to find some Harrar horse for sweet Maria’s again, someday.
…that last photo!!! 😲😂😱🤔
very informative video thank you👍
Thank you for sharing. Love hearing about your travels. I would very much like to hear sometime about coffees from India. Mysore nuggets are some of my favorite beans along with Sumatra. I also enjoy the crazy flavors aged coffees can have. I have bought aged coffees from SM 4 times I think? I actually just found an aged Dominican republic coffee from another supplier in the US, it was interesting. Regardless thanks again for sharing your coffee knowledge and I love these informative videos. Enjoy the day
Thanks for this excellent video! I roasted a considerable amount of Mr. Ogsaday's Horse Harrar coffee back in the day (early 1980's at Allegro Coffee in Boulder). Considering what else was available back then (wildly inconsistent, usually baggy Yemens Royal Coffee also brought in along with the Harrar, Yemen Mocha Mattari from American Coffee and Erna Knutsen) its reliably rusticity and frequent bursts of blueberry fruitiness made it a prized coffee. But innovations that Sweet Maria's, especially, have pioneered and supported - much more careful sorting, raised bed drying, deep dives into great regional offerings outside of Harrar and (last but not least) shipment in Grain Pro bags - have totally changed the Ethiopian coffee landscape. Every year for many years now you've offered probably two dozen dry-processed (and about as many washed) Ethiopians whose complexity, cleanness and intensity are far beyond anything I ever experienced in my coffee buying career (1987-2002). This video gives a lovely little taste of the passion and hard work on your part that have made this possible. Much gratitude!
Great video!
That’s strange, my green bean supplier lists Ethiopian Harrar Longberry on their site, shipped from Melbourne, Australia
That … was actually kind of sad. Nice video.
Khat is fantastic, wish it was legal in the west, but this is still quite the shame. Drought seems to be a real killer. I do wonder if there are any progress in recycling and limiting waste of coffee water. Which would be good for essentially everywhere that coffee is grown.
Also, speaking of advancements in natural quality, sorting, and grading. While good, it seems to have had the unfortunate byproduct of killing off blueberry bombs.
Why don't you have any Vietnamize coffee? I'd love to try some.
We haven't come across any offerings that we think would be good to sell. We'll definitely let everyone know if things change.
Qat not Chat 😊
My son calls it horror coffee