Tibebu

Hundreds of smallholders bring cherry to the Tibebu station, where it dries whole on raised beds for about three weeks. Natural Yirgacheffe can taste of jam or of rot; this lot is clean blueberry and jasmine.

It is dense, high-grown coffee, so we charge a little lower at 196 °C and keep the heat gentle through drying. First crack comes early, at 8:18. We drop 1:36 later, before the florals fade.