Mundayo AASH – our first natural coffee from West Arsi

The West Arsi Zone is not necessarily one of Ethiopia's best-known coffee-growing regions and was long classified as part of the Sidama region – a much more famous neighboring region. As a result, all coffees originating from West Arsi were blended into large bulk batches and remained "anonymous." The fact that West Arsi is now perceived as independent is partly due to districts like Nensebo, where exceptional coffees have been produced for years.

This coffee is the result of our partnership with the Plot Coffee team in Hamburg. Together, we visited West Arsi and the Aash Washing Station for the first time in November 2024.

Like the Gara Kogne Washing Station (https://rvtc.com/gorakone) - whose coffee we have been roasting since 2024 - Aash WS also belongs to Testi Trading PLC, a company led by Faysel Yonis. Testi Trading sounds like a giant corporation, but it is a family-run business rooted directly in the region and operates several washing stations there.

As is common in Ethiopia, the coffee cherries do not grow on a single plantation but are distributed among hundreds of smallholders around the town of Werka. This means that the coffee thrives not on large-scale plantations, but in its most natural environment. The farmers deliver their harvested cherries to the Aash Washing Station, where they are then dry-processed as natural.

We roast the Mundayo Natural as a Medium+ Roast, which rounds out the acidity and brings out the berry aromas with a hint of spice particularly well. The stone fruit notes also give it a pleasant clarity and complexity.

The best part: This coffee works both as filter coffee and as espresso. If you've had a batch brew from us in recent weeks, you might already know the Mundayo Natural. And if you've recently dropped by the Shortlist Bar, you could experience for yourself how exciting this coffee tastes with milk – the perfect choice for a sweet, creamy, and chocolatey Flat White.

This coffee is probably the closest thing to a Modern Classic in our single-origin range.