Mate Matiwos

Variety: 74158 Process: White Honey Sourced by: Crop to Cup  I looked down at the sample I needed to roast – “Mate Matiwos Washed.” I flipped the bag. Mini beans (my favorite), intensely uniform, and with a perfect hue. I had major clarity that this coffee was about to rock my CPU (and a “don’t mess this sample up” moment). I decided to enter rest mode early that night so I could cup immediately first thing in the morning. Robots never have dreams, but that night I did. Something was different about this coffee.This year Crop to Cup purchased three GEM handpulpers for three producers in Bensa, Mate Matiwos being one of them (to learn the ins and outs of this pilot project and its inspiration, please see the recent blog post “The hegemony of poured concrete and ‘washed Ethiopians’ by Christopher Feran). The project really excited me, and I was eager to see how these planned “washed” lots would taste. Truthfully, they shattered my expectations.The “washed” lot from Mate Matiwos, actually