Miracle On North 6th Street (2021)

This is our third year purchasing coffee from Karambi Washing Station, located along the shores of Lake Kivu near the border with DRC. Growing conditions are optimal here with good altitude, great soil, and favorable rainfall. Coffee production happens on a tiny scale here (as is the case throughout most of East Africa). 400 individual people deliver coffee to Karambi, each producing just 47lb of finished, green coffee on average.

Mulish is located about 25 miles from the town of Shakisso in Ethiopia's Guji Zone. Though only a few years old, it was the first washing station in the surrounding area. "Our outgrowers are our backbone," says founder Faisal Abdush, who emphasizes identifying and meeting the needs of the local coffee growing community. Many of these outgrowers are new to the area, some having moved from as far away as Harrar due to displacement and government relocation programs. This is our first year purchasing this coffee, sourced through our friends at Trabocca.

This lot was sourced through Roger Antonio Dominguez Marquez, owner of Finca La Cueva and Finca San Francisco (returning early 2022!). In addition to his own farms, Roger buys and sells his neighbors' coffees, paying prices higher than what is offered by the local intermediaries. This lot, a frequent component of Elevate, is composed of those neighbors' coffees, processed by Roger and milled at the Cooperativa Regional de Agricultores Orgánicos de la Sierra (RAOS).