Ethiopia Gedeb Yirgacheffe
Ethiopia Gedeb Yirgacheffe
2017 Roaster of the Year winning coffee submission.
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Story
One of our award-winning roasts from our 2017 Roaster of the Year prize. "Delicate, deeply sweet. Baker’s chocolate, magnolia, peach, black peppercorn, sandalwood in aroma and cup. Gentle, rounded acidity; velvety mouthfeel. The richly drying finish consolidates to baker’s chocolate and peach. An engaging coffee particularly appealing to those who value delicate, cocoa-toned coffees with gentle acidity and engaging spice notes. Reassuring environmental and socio-economic credentials.
The Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU), is an umbrella organization established in 2002 to support a sustainable coffee supply from cooperatives in the Gedeo ethnic region of Ethiopia.
There are twenty-six cooperatives affiliated with the YCFCU totaling nearly 45,000 members in the districts of Yirgacheffe, Gedeb, Wonango, Dilla Zuria, Bule, and Kochere. To grow a sustainable coffee community, the YCFCU has invested in school construction, electrification projects in remote areas, and road and bridge improvement projects.
The 62,004 hectares of coffee farms produce an annual average 9,000 tons of Yirgacheffe, 3,000 tons of Sidamo washed coffee and 24,000 tons of sun-dried coffee. We are excited to continue working with YCFCU to bring you some beautiful Ethiopian Coffees!
Characteristics
Light
Gentle, Rounded
Baker’s Chocolate, Magnolia, Peach, Black Peppercorn, Sandalwood
Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union
Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union
Indigenous Heirloom Arabica
Fully Washed
Gedeb, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia
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Thanksgiving Coffee

1972
Paul and Joan Katzeff
- Macro Roaster of the Year from Roast Magazine (2017)
- Good Food Awards Winner 2019
- Sustainability Award Winner from the SCAA (2004, 2012)
- Best for the World from the B Corporation (2016 and 2017)
- Lifetime Achievement Award from the SCAA (Paul Katzeff, 2008)
- Outstanding Contribution to the Association from the SCAA (Paul Katzeff, 1991)
- Various high points from CoffeeReview.com

Roast Magazine's 2017 Roaster of The Year Award Winner!
In 1972 Paul and Joan Katzeff moved to the Mendocino Coast, established Thanksgiving Coffee at the Mendocino Hotel, and begin roasting coffee for the Hotel café. At the time this was their only account. They roasted on a Royal #5 twenty-five pound capacity coffee roaster. Sales were approximately fifty pounds each week at $2.50 per pound.
In 1972 Thanksgiving Coffee was just one of many cottage hippie businesses. Nobody had heard of specialty coffee. It was the era of free love, psychedelics, Kent State Vietnam War, Nixon’s Watergate, Jefferson Starship, and a renewed commitment to alternative energy by California Governor Jerry Brown.
Everyone living in Mendocino was having a good time or escaping bad times. It was a time the urban young got on the road and found rural America was still real. They liked what they stumbled upon and stayed on.
Thanksgiving Coffee focused on making a positive contribution to the local community. The causes were local and the business reflected the founder’s relationship to their community. During this time the California wine industry was becoming famous and California cuisine was all about Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. Thanksgiving Coffee grew up surrounded by this culture and a Roastmaster was born.
In 1974, Paul and Joan begin roasting coffee for The Thanksgiving Coffee Restaurant. The restaurant was sold to partners and became The Greenhouse Restaurant. Thanksgiving coffee relocated and was run out a building built before the 1906 Earthquake on the Noyo Harbor, behind a ship called the San Juan. The building stood on a dock. The company grew and operated out of these digs until 1987. Paul and Joan purchased the building in 1975 and the company still owns it today. They keep it for storage and also as a reminder of their humble beginnings and all the amazing old salts, cranky fisherman, and drunken parties that were a frequent part of their lives on the water when Noyo Harbor was just another ”Cannery Row” along the Pacific Coast complete with “fish houses” where local women filleted fifty pound King Salmon, iced three pound crabs and packed Black Cod fillets for shipment to Eastern markets to be smoked and sold as “smoked sablefish” to the Jewish Delis in Chicago and New York City.
Paul says, "All that is gone now but the memory still remains. I guess you can say, “those were the good old days.”
Through the years Thanksgiving Coffee has grown, but it is still a family business. Their son, Jonah helps his parents steer the ship and carry on the legacy.
Paul became one of the founding charter members of SCAA and served as the 3rd President. He hosted the first SCAA conference entitled, “Coffee Human Rights, and Third World Economies.”
"Through coffee, we support justice for our growers, our communities, and the environment. As an activist business, our work is to engage every coffee drinker on big social, economic and environmental issues. Coffee is our medium." “Not Just A Cup, But A Just Cup” is our message.
Mission:
To build a profitable community based company that provides meaningful work in a pleasant, safe work place, where employees take pride in the product we produce, at a wage scale that can support healthy life styles. To do this while benefiting the farmers who produce the raw coffee we import and roast, recognizing that quality of life and quality of coffee go hand in hand. To create a bridge between producers and consumers, leading to a greater understanding between different world cultures.
This the true success of the hippy ideals. To see a company with a mission, 45 years later never waver from its beliefs and contributions. We believe Thanksgiving Coffee is a roaster worthy of your cup.
- CLCoffee L.I recommend this productRated 5 out of 5 stars4 years ago5 Stars
It has everything I love in light roasts: enough body, freshness, flavors and aroma. Enhances mood automatically :)
Was this helpful? - CLCoffee L.I recommend this productRated 5 out of 5 stars6 years ago5 Stars
Wonderfully balanced complex flavor profile. The roasting complements the qualities of the coffee.
Was this helpful? - CLCoffee L.I recommend this productRated 5 out of 5 stars7 years ago5 Stars
Enjoyed every cup!
Was this helpful? - CLCoffee L.I recommend this productRated 4 out of 5 stars7 years ago4 Stars
I was pleasantly suprised with Thanksgiving Coffee! I bought 3 different bags of beans and all were excellent.
Was this helpful? - CLCoffee L.I recommend this productRated 5 out of 5 stars7 years ago5 Stars
Another stunning coffee from Thanksgiving Coffee. If you have not tried this roaster yet, it is a must try. They are sourcing from some of the best farms in the world. I am biased for Ethiopian Coffee, but this is another incredible, complex, juicy, coffee. Would absolutely buy this one again!
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