The Yaye washing station was built in 2021 by Testi Coffee, a company led by Faysel Abdosh together with his son Fahmi. Fahmi—young and passionate about coffee—is known for his enthusiasm and his deep interest in quality and industry trends. Yaye is considered one of the jewels of Testi’s project: it features impeccable washing facilities, exemplary organization, and the technical capacity needed to maintain traceability and microlot separation throughout the entire process.
Through this program, Testi pays a premium price to producers who select and deliver only the ripest cherries from their farms. The coffees produced under this initiative represent the highest expression of quality from the washing station and the entire region, standing out for their purity, clarity, and excellence in the cup.
During the harvest, around 300 independent farming families deliver freshly picked coffee cherries each day from the kebeles surrounding the nearby Tulecha mountain. Most of the families contributing to this lot farm organically on tiny plots scarcely reaching one hectare. Coffee is their main source of income and grows alongside food crops such as corn, grains, and bananas, under the shade of native Birbira, Wanza, and acacia trees.
The average altitude of the farms in this region is remarkably high—between 1,995 and 2,230 meters above sea level. This elevation, combined with the cool local temperatures, promotes slow and uniform cherry maturation, resulting in denser beans and a sweeter, more complex, and more balanced cup.
About the process
After being hand-picked at peak ripeness and subjected to a flotation process to remove lower-density cherries, the coffee cherries are depulped and then reclassified according to density. They are then submerged in water for a controlled fermentation of 36 hours before being spread out on raised beds, where they dry slowly for a period of 10 to 14 days.
