Jigesa (pronounced "Jee-geh-sa") is a privately-owned washing station situated in the Shakisso woreda (administrative district) within Ethiopia’s Guji zone. It takes its name from the local village, or kebele, of Jigesa. Established in 2014, Jigesa was the first of 26 washing stations set up by Testi Coffee, a family-owned company founded by Mr. Faysel A. Yonis.
Perched at an elevation of 1,851 meters above sea level, Jigesa is known for producing exceptional washed and naturally processed coffee. The station employs between 250 to 260 seasonal workers, with approximately 200 women dedicated to hand-sorting parchment, while the remaining 50 work in the onsite dry mill. During the harvest season, around 500 independent farmers from the nearby kebele of Dambi Uddo, as well as collection points in Wese and Suke, deliver freshly picked coffee cherries to the station daily.
Most of the contributing families farm organically on small plots of land, averaging just two to five hectares. Coffee, their primary cash crop, is grown alongside food crops like corn, grain, and bananas, under the shade of native trees such as Birbira, Wanza, and Acacia. The region's high elevation, ranging from 1,800 to 2,050 meters above sea level, combined with cool temperatures of 15-20°C, creates ideal conditions for the slow ripening of coffee cherries. This results in denser beans and a sweeter, more complex cup profile.
This coffee lot was produced as part of Testi’s Premium Cherry Selection (PCS) program, a quality improvement initiative launched in 2018. The PCS program ensures that best practices are employed in growing, harvesting, and processing coffee cherries. Farmers who participate in the program receive a premium for delivering only the ripest cherries from their farms. Coffees produced through the PCS program represent the highest quality and cleanest cup profiles available from the washing station and the surrounding region.
This information and the accompanying images were kindly provided by our incredible import partners, Melbourne Coffee Merchants.
