Notes from a sourcing trip to Yirgacheffe, March 2026

I spent ten days in Yirgacheffe last month — my fourth trip in five years. A few things have changed in the region. A few things haven't. Here are the working-notes version, the kind I'd share with friends in the industry over a long dinner.

What's different in 2026

The quality at the high-altitude wet mills has stabilized. 2022–2024 was an inconsistent stretch — climate volatility, fertilizer cost spikes, labor shortages. The 2025/2026 crops we cupped this trip were closer to 2018–2019 quality across the board. Not coincidentally, prices are also up about 30% vs. 2022 (compounded with shipping logistics, it's higher in landed cost).

Honey and natural processes are now standard offerings even at washed-station-dominated coops. Five years ago, getting a honey-process micro-lot out of a Kochere coop required relationships. In 2026, the coops have built dedicated processing infrastructure for naturals and honeys and are selling them at 15–25% premiums to their best washeds. We bought one honey-process lot this trip and will probably feature it as a single-origin Q3.

Producer-direct relationships are harder than they were. The cooperative consolidation that's been happening over the past decade has reduced the number of independent micro-lots in circulation. We work through cooperative unions for our Yirgacheffes; some of our peer roasters have given up on Ethiopia entirely because the relationship work has gotten harder.

What hasn't changed

The coffee, when done right, still has no equivalent. Floral, citric, fruited, structured. The first cupping morning of a sourcing trip is the moment I remember why I do this work.

Logistics are still hard. Six weeks from sample-shipped to lot-arrived-at-warehouse, in the best case. Three months in the worst case. Climate-controlled storage during the long transit is something most roasters of our size can't really afford, so we time our buys to minimize storage time at our end.

The trip is worth it every time. Sitting at a cupping table with producers we've worked with for four years, tasting their crop together, is the part of this business that's irreplaceable. There's no spreadsheet substitute.

— Caleb