Water poured over a handful of washed green coffee beans

Ripe coffee cherries being gathered into a woven basket

Rows of cupping cups lined up for tasting

Guji, Ethiopia

Alaka

4.9 · 1,284 reviews

Bergamot
White peach
Jasmine

Floral, tea-like and delicate. A washed Ethiopian from 2,000 metres that tastes like Earl Grey with stone fruit — filter only.

250 g bag

£15.60

£13.26 on subscription

1 kg bag

£53.00

£45.05 on subscription

Subscribe and save 15% Buy a single bag

Roasted Tuesday and Thursday · posted the same afternoon

How we brew it

Pour-over: 15 g coffee to 240 g water at 95 °C, medium, 3:00 total
Cold brew: 100 g coarse coffee to 800 ml cold water, 16 hours in the fridge

Where it comes from

Origin: Guji, Ethiopia
Producer: Alaka mill, 210 delivering farms across two villages
Altitude: 1,900–2,050 m
Variety: Local landrace selections
Process: Washed
Roast: Light
Harvest: Picked October to December, landed in February

Delivery and freshness

Roasted to order and posted by Royal Mail Tracked 48 on the day it leaves the drum. Free on subscriptions and orders over £30, otherwise £3.95. Best from five days to six weeks after the roast date on the bag.

Why we buy Alaka

The densest green coffee we buy and the fussiest in the drum. It wants heat early and then to be left alone: we charge it two degrees cooler than anything else on the list, give it the longest drying phase, and drop it the moment first crack settles.

It is the only coffee we will not sell for espresso. It makes a thin, sharp shot and a remarkable filter, and we would rather tell you that than sell you the wrong bag.

If you have never had an Ethiopian coffee brewed properly, start here — and keep the water just off the boil.

“I have tried four subscriptions and this is the one I kept. The bag lands on Friday, it was roasted on Thursday, and when I asked for a coarser grind they changed it the same day.”

Helen R., Leeds — Roaster’s Choice, every 2 weeks