Ethiopia Sidama Ayla Shantawene Washed (Ultralight)

CUP PROFILE:   Peach • White Florals • Clean

A delicate and expressive cup driven by layered stone fruits, white florals, and refined tea-like structure. Early cups lean ultra-clean and elegant with soft peach and nectarine notes, while additional rest time reveals increasing sweetness, creaminess, and sparkling citrus complexity.

Hot, the cup opens with fresh peach, nectarine, lemon zest, and floral aromatics wrapped in a silky black tea finish. As the coffee cools, the profile becomes sweeter and more integrated, revealing hints of white sugar, marshmallow sweetness, soft creaminess, and a refined honey-like character.

The acidity is crisp yet controlled — more elegant than aggressive — giving the coffee a structured, almost delicate presentation despite the intensely light roast profile.

Coffee Details

This coffee was roasted intentionally ultra-light to preserve its florals, stone fruit clarity, and transparent sweetness. The result is a cup that can initially feel almost deceptively light in body before fully opening into layered complexity as it cools.

Across multiple brews, the coffee consistently showed:

• White florals
• Peach and nectarine
• Black tea structure
• Lemon peel and citrus zest
• Honey sweetness
• Creamy marshmallow-like sugars

The finish stays exceptionally clean with no roast interference, allowing the origin character to remain fully intact.

Farm Notes:

The washed processed coffees are depulped within 8 hours after picking and the mucilage-covered parchment is submerged in water for a 36 to 48 hour fermentation, depending on the conditions. After most of the mucilage is consumed, the coffee is fully washed in canals with running water until the water is completely transparent and all of the mucilage is completely removed from the parchment. 

After fermenting and washing, this premium coffee is laid out on raised beds under a shade net for 5 to 7 days until the moisture content is between 11 and 12%. The coffee is then moved inside a nearby warehouse for final homogenization and resting until it is ready to be transported to the dry mill.

The Ayla washing station is owned by Testi Trading and operated by the Yonis family and their team. Testi Trading makes significant investments in the communities that they operate in through their Project Direct initiatives. So far they have completed construction of multiple primary schools and even the first ever high school in the town of Hamasho, a small town in Sidama.