YCFCU, Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmer Cooperative Union

Yirgacheffe, Oromia, Ethiopia

"I've finally arrived in Yirgacheffe, a very sacred place in the ever-changing coffee world...Rugged highlands with an abundance of seasonal rainfall make it an ideal location for the coffee plant to grow. The road south is very curvy, steep, and bumpy but the views from the road are unbelievable. The land is so rugged, with countless steep peeks and deep river valleys. All the land is so green and the deep thick vegetation seems to make most areas inaccessible to anyone. Along the road on the occasional flat spots are little villages or small groups of homes. The homes are mostly built with a wooden frame for the walls (erected in a circle) which is filled in with mud or clay. The roof is made of false banana leaves thatched in a circular shape from the center of the roof."

-Derek De La Paz, Peace Coffee Quality Control Roaster