Harar is a region in eastern Ethiopia, whose desert landscape is quite different from other larger Ethiopian coffee-producing regions. Though regions like Yirgacheffe and Sidama often dominate the discussion of Ethiopian coffee, Harar holds a special place in coffee lore as the origin of commercial coffee production.

This coffee comes to us from our roasting partners at Madcap Coffee Co., who work directly with Ethiopian coffee exporter Heleanna Georgalis on this Harar selection. Heleanna grew up in Harar and her family operates a dry mill in the area. She purchases the highest grades of Harar coffee off the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, and then separates her purchase further to produce her own Grade 1 Quality from the highest scoring coffees.

On the Mammoth cupping table we’re getting baked apple, cinnamon and mulling spices, hints of raspberry and cranberry, chocolate and butter. As it cools, more of the tart raspberry is revealed, and the body of Harar is syrupy and buttery.

Harar is a natural process coffee (also known as “dry process”), meaning the coffee seed was dried in the sun with its mucilage and cherry still intact. This allows producers in water-scarce regions like Harar to process their coffee. Natural process coffees also tend to have very fruit-forward profiles. We previously wrote a post detailing the differences between natural and washed process coffees, which you can link to here.

Stop by to check our Harar on the pour over bar, or pick up a 12 oz retail bag for your home brewing.

Harar (Ethiopia)
Baked strudel, mulling spice, raspberry and chocolate
Region: East Harar
Variety: Heirloom
Processing: Natural Process