We have already purchased several coffees grown in the infamous Yirgacheffe region. The Gedeo people, who live in parts of this region in the south of Ethiopia, have long been linked to coffee, which has been growing there since the beginning of time. The Worka Cooperative, despite its young age, already gained a lot of respect and attention among coffee roasters and consumers. The cooperative was founded in 2006 after the foundation of the Gedeb District, which was split off Kochere by the government. After that, the Worka washing station was established.

The cooperative has been part of the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU) since 2010. The YCFCU acts as a trader for its member cooperatives and takes care of sales and marketing. It further invests in the community through building a school and bridges to link isolated areas and organizes workshops and meetings for its members. All cooperatives that are part of the YCFCU are located in the Gedeo Zone in southern Ethiopia.

In the past, we have bought various coffees from the YCFCU, all of which were of great quality. We stuck with the two favorites: Worka and Bule Adado, which we roast for filter.

These coffees of the native varieties Kudhume, Welisho and Dego are certified with the Fairtrade and organic labels at origin. They are sorted by hand, sun-dried and covered overnight as well as during the hottest hours of the day for protection. The drying process can take up to 30 days. With the YCFCU's own trucks, the coffee is brought to Addis Ababa, where it goes through various quality checks before it's exported and then reaches Europe by way of Djibouti.

This harvest's flavor profile is very similar to the previous. Of course, no coffee is ever the same harvested in different years – due to, for example, small differences in harvest area and especially climate, the coffee never tastes the same.

Worka tastes of ripe, tropical fruit and has intense citrus notes. The fermentation is clearly perceptible in the cup. The coffee is juicy, fruity, yet very sweet and it bewitches most people with its unique aroma, typical for Yirgacheffe naturals. We can call ourselves lucky being able to have sourced this coffee for the second time.