Whole Bean
Roast: Light
Recommended Rest: 4-6 weeks from roast date
Tasting Notes: mandarin orange, yellow peach, jasmine tea

Origin Details

Region: Hambella, Ethiopia
Elevation: 2350m
Producer: Tagel Alemayehu, Olkai Coffee
Process: Washed
Variety: Landrace

ABOUT THIS COFFEE AND PRODUCER

Olkai Coffee is a family-run exporter founded in 2018 by Tagel Alemayehu. Before leading one of southern Ethiopia’s most respected specialty coffee operations, Tagel was a race circuit driver, a background that still shows up in his precision, efficiency, and calm focus. Raised in Bule Hora as the son of a local coffee trader who built the region’s first washing station and installed Ethiopia’s first Pinhalense dry huller, Tagel grew up immersed in coffee from an early age.

Over the past two decades, Tagel has worked across Guji, Sidama, and Yirgacheffe, including managing one of Guji’s earliest specialty natural washing stations beginning in 2004. He founded Olkai as export regulations opened, building it as a family business—his wife serves as export manager—and now operates multiple washing stations throughout the south. Deep, long-standing relationships with smallholder farmers and local communities remain central to Olkai’s work, shaped by years of trust, collaboration, and a shared pursuit of quality.

WHY WE SELECTED THIS COFFEE

This is our first time working with Tagel Alemayehu and Olkai Coffee out of Ethiopia, and it feels like a really special introduction. The coffee shows everything we love about washed landrace lots, with a bit more body and citrus complexity.

Up front it’s all classic citrus qualities we love. Orange, lemon, and lime come through juicy and zesty, bright without being sharp. As it cools, the cup softens into a sweeter, velvety stone fruit note that reminds us of yellow peach. The finish is where it settles into gentle jasmine aromatics that give the whole cup a jasmine tea–like feel.

It’s clean, balanced, and easy to return to day after day. A fantastic everyday coffee and one we’re genuinely excited to share and drink every day ourselves.