Natural Illubator Forest

South West State, West Omo Zone, Ethiopia

Gesha Village Estates

Variety: Illubabor Forest Variety
Process: Natural 
Fermentation: no intentional fermentation is utilized
Drying time: 37 days dried on raised beds
Drying temperature: 35 °C Max. - 20 °C Min.  
Altitude: 1916 - 1982 masl
Rainfall:  2000 mm/year
Humidity: 10 – 90%
Geographic Location: South West State, West Omo Zone 

Gesha Village is one of the most cherished coffee producers on the planet with 471-hectares in the Bench Maji zone of Ethiopia, nearby the town of Gesha and the Gori Gesha forest, the birthplace of the Gesha variety.

Owned and operated by Adam Overton, Rachel Samuel and Willem Boot, this project was started in 2007 and has quickly developed to be an idolized producer in the specialty coffee world. With ~320 hectares planted of Gesha 1931, Gori Gesha and Illubabor Forest varieties, throughout 8 different zones that correlate with unique terroir.

The 8 different zones, or sub-farms, are named after nearby villages and important sites. You'll find, Bangi, Dimma, Gaylee, Oma, Narsha, Surma, Shewa-Jibabu and Shaya featured amongst Gesha Village offerings.

This lot comes from the Gaylee block, which is named after the southeast-facing neighbourhood nearby to the farm, where Gesha Villages water source comes from. This lot is exclusively planted with Illubabor Forest, a variety that was discovered in the nearby areas and is taken directly to dry for 37 days in raised beds under the sun and mixed shade. There is no intentional fermentation stage utilized.

The profile on this lot is super sweet and juicy. There's beautiful stone fruit qualities, with apricot and peach being the forward flavours. Secondary tones include honey and marigolds, providing a nice complexity to the profile. Overall the texture is fleshy and full. This is a beautiful expression of an Ethiopian Natural.