The Idido cooperative is a member of the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU), a celebrated supplier of Ethiopian coffee. Their main processing site is just a short drive up the mountains on the eastern side of Yirgacheffe. In the surrounding communities, nearly 2000 producers belonging to the cooperative farm small plots of land around their homes, averaging 1.5 hectares. These plots double as home gardens where families grow fruits, vegetables, and beans for subsistence alongside coffee as their primary cash crop.

 
Since 2011, we’ve worked with Idido and YCFCU to source coffees and innovate on quality. We've separated lots by community and washing station, experimented with screen separations, and developed special-preparation lots highlighting coffee cherry ripeness and drying techniques.

 
Beyond these explorations of quality, our collaboration extends to sustainability. We’ve funded multiple grants from our Seeds program supporting a range of sustainability projects in the area. Our relationship with Idido deepens each season, and the spirit of collaboration and exploration led us to try something new.

We chose to have a portion of this year’s lot from Idido decaffeinated by Swiss Water, a company based in Vancouver, Canada. Swiss Water’s organic certified method uses water and carbon filtration to remove caffeine while leaving all other soluble compounds that give coffees their distinct character intact. Counter Culture works closely with Swiss Water, coordinating shipments of coffee from origin to decaffeination to our roasting facilities, primarily for our Slow Motion blend. The process is both lengthy and costly, but it’s worth it. Over the years, we’ve mused with the Swiss Water team about decaffeinating some of our favorite single-origin coffees, and we finally made it happen. We’re excited for the opportunity to enjoy this great coffee at any hour of the day.