Yirgacheffe Edido - Ethiopia

About the Coffee

This coffee comes from small-scale farmers in Edido, a village (known locally as a kebele) in Ethiopia's Gedeo Zone. The farms sit at 1,850 to 1,880 meters above sea level, and the coffee is processed at nearby washing stations in Aricha. The Gedeo Zone falls within the broader Yirgacheffe region, one of the oldest coffee-growing areas in the world and the place where Coffea arabica is believed to have originated.

These farmers use the natural process, a method with deep roots in Ethiopian coffee culture. Whole coffee cherries are spread across raised drying beds and turned regularly over several weeks to dry evenly in the sun. Keeping the fruit intact during drying allows the sugars inside the cherry to work their way into the bean slowly, over time. The raised beds keep the cherries off the ground, improving airflow and giving drying workers better access to sort and turn them throughout the day.

About Hale

Hale Coffee is an independent roaster based in Toronto, operating out of The Junction Triangle neighborhood. They built their sourcing around direct trade relationships with farmers, which means buying coffee outside the conventional commodity chain and paying producers directly for their work.

Hale has been part of Toronto's specialty coffee scene since their early days on Queen and Spadina, and their sourcing approach has stayed consistent: find good farms, pay fair prices, and let the coffee speak for itself.