Ethiopia Natural Yirgacheffe

About the Coffee

This natural Yirgacheffe comes from smallholder farmers in Ethiopia who grow coffee alongside other crops on small plots of land. Farmers deliver their cherries to central washing stations that serve hundreds or sometimes over a thousand producers - making it nearly impossible to trace coffee back to individual farmers, but Terminal 3 works to source from the same stations each year.

Grown at 1,800 meters with heirloom Ethiopian varieties, the coffee is processed naturally - meaning cherries are dried whole rather than washed - creating the dried blueberry, raisin, and prune flavors that make Ethiopian naturals distinctive.

Hot, it tastes like dried fruits; iced, it shifts to jasmine green tea and blueberry - Terminal 3's preferred fruity option for daily drinking that works well across drip, French press, and pour-over methods.

About Terminal 3

Mo Alzatmah and Horlick Ng started Terminal 3 after five years of roasting coffee at home while working full-time jobs in finance. They tested over 120 beans, ranked them across five different criteria, and selected only the highest scoring to build their eight-bean lineup - all sourced from organic farms.

The Lake Shore Boulevard cafe roasts in-house in small 2.5kg batches about twice a week, with beans from North and South America, Asia, and Africa roasted right in view of customers. They focus on African beans more than typical cafes, despite the premium cost and limited harvesting seasons.

Terminal 3 takes the slow approach to coffee - they're one of few cafes that will take the time to make you a pour over. Alzatmah and Ng use that time to walk customers through the process and explain what they're tasting.

Terminal 3 is a recent discovery for me, hidden right under my nose in Etobicoke. They're very serious about the quality of the coffee they source, though I find it even more impressive what they do to preserve quality after it's roasted: resting the coffee before releasing it to customers, and ensuring coffee is not left outside in harsh Canadian winters. 

- Dean, Director of Coffee