Ethiopia Ayele Tulu Washed G2

Ayele Tulu Washing Station is located in the Bona Zuria district of the Sidamo region, 106km from Hawassa, the nearest major city. Bona Zuria borders the Oromia region to the south, Hula to the west, Bursa to the north west, Arbegona to the north and Bensa to the east. Ayele Tulu Washing Station is situated at 2,190 masl, making it one of the highest altitude washing stations in the whole of Ethiopia.

The Ayele Tulu Washing Station was officially founded in 2014, and now has 15 permanent workers and 600 outgrowers over 5 hectares of land. Whilst the washing station was founded in 2014, Mr Ayele Tulu has been working in the coffee industry for more than two decades.

Coffee runs in the family as his eldest son, Tsegab, has also worked in the industry for many years and now owns his own traceable coffee export company, Heleph Coffee Export. Heleph oversees all coffee preparation protocols, from harvest to export, ensuring they deliver the highest quality beans. Every year they export up to 7 containers worth of processed green coffee beans from the Ayele Tulu Washing Station.

Once the coffee cherries have been brought to the washing station, they are de-pulped using an Aagaard disc pulper. During the process, fresh water is used from the nearby Daddaye river.

Once de-pulped and fully washed, the beans are left to dry on African raised beds. These beds are designed to ensure proper air circulation and temperature control and so to help the coffee to dry optimally. The beans are dried on the beds for 10-15 days until they have a moisture content between 10-12%. They are then stored in a local warehouse before being transported to Addis Ababa for export.