Kolla Bolcha - Light Ethiopia photo 1
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Kolla Bolcha - Light Ethiopia

$15.00

Process: Washed

Peach Syrup, Honeysuckle, Orange Creamsicle

Limited Time Offering: Oh, Ethiopia — you’ve done it again. This coffee is something else: peach syrup, honeysuckle, and cashew butter all dancing together in perfect harmony. Bright and silky, floral but rich, the kind of cup that reminds you why the simple stuff can be so extraordinary

Kolla Bolcha is everything we love about washed Ethiopian coffees: sweet, structured, and with a finish that sticks around just long enough to make you smile. This lot comes from 759 smallholder farmers in the Agaro region of Oromia. Every harvest shows why Agaro coffees are so special: clarity, honeyed fruit, and a balance that only gets better with time.

Details

Producer: Kolla Bolcha Cooperative
Region: Agaro, Oromia, Jimma Zone
Process: Washed
Elevation: 1900 - 2200 masl
Varieties: Ethiopia Landraces

Source

Kolla Bolcha #6 comes from 759 smallholder farmers in Ethiopia’s Agaro region in Oromia, in the Jimma zone of Western Ethiopia. These coffees are some of the first Ethiopian harvests each year, usually picked in January and arriving as early as February. What’s special is that these coffees keep opening up over 6+ months, staying vibrant and flavorful for a long time after they arrive.

The processing here is super careful: cherries are depulped using Penagos machines, soaked overnight to remove any leftover sugars, and then dried slowly on raised beds for 6–8 hours a day over about a week, with frequent turning so they dry evenly. This care gives us a clean, bright cup that really shows off the unique flavors of Kolla Bolcha.

Story

The Kolla Bolcha washing station sits in Kimbibit, a small community in the Geera district. The area is high, rainy, and full of rich, sandy soil, perfect for coffee. Most farms are tiny, between 0.1 and 2 hectares, and farmers plant shade trees like maize and false banana alongside their coffee to keep the plants healthy.

The farmers here are part of the Oromo community and live simple, coffee-centered lives. Many homes don’t have electricity, and kids often start school around age 9 because the nearest schools are far away. Coffee is their main income, and families take great care in growing it. Every cup of Kolla Bolcha carries the work, care, and pride of this community, and Greater Goods is excited to share it with you!

Size

Grind

This size is not included in Coffee Build-a-Box.

Build a box of 1–3 bags
Variants and availability
  • 4 oz / Whole Bean · Size: 4 oz, Grind: Whole Bean · $15.00 · In stock
  • 10 oz / Whole Bean · Size: 10 oz, Grind: Whole Bean · $27.00 · In stock
  • 10 oz / French Press · Size: 10 oz, Grind: French Press · $27.00 · In stock
  • 10 oz / Aeropress · Size: 10 oz, Grind: Aeropress · $27.00 · In stock
  • 10 oz / Espresso · Size: 10 oz, Grind: Espresso · $27.00 · In stock
  • 10 oz / Chemex · Size: 10 oz, Grind: Chemex · $27.00 · In stock
  • 10 oz / Cone · Size: 10 oz, Grind: Cone · $27.00 · In stock
  • 10 oz / Drip · Size: 10 oz, Grind: Drip · $27.00 · In stock
  • 10 oz / Cold Brew · Size: 10 oz, Grind: Cold Brew · $27.00 · In stock
  • 2 lb / Whole Bean · Size: 2 lb, Grind: Whole Bean · $78.00 · In stock
  • 2 lb / French Press · Size: 2 lb, Grind: French Press · $78.00 · In stock
  • 2 lb / Aeropress · Size: 2 lb, Grind: Aeropress · $78.00 · In stock
  • 2 lb / Espresso · Size: 2 lb, Grind: Espresso · $78.00 · In stock
  • 2 lb / Chemex · Size: 2 lb, Grind: Chemex · $78.00 · In stock
  • 2 lb / Cone · Size: 2 lb, Grind: Cone · $78.00 · In stock
  • 2 lb / Drip · Size: 2 lb, Grind: Drip · $78.00 · In stock
  • 2 lb / Cold Brew · Size: 2 lb, Grind: Cold Brew · $78.00 · In stock
  • 5 lb / Whole Bean · Size: 5 lb, Grind: Whole Bean · $171.00 · In stock
  • 5 lb / French Press · Size: 5 lb, Grind: French Press · $171.00 · In stock
  • 5 lb / Aeropress · Size: 5 lb, Grind: Aeropress · $171.00 · In stock
  • 5 lb / Espresso · Size: 5 lb, Grind: Espresso · $171.00 · In stock
  • 5 lb / Chemex · Size: 5 lb, Grind: Chemex · $171.00 · In stock
  • 5 lb / Cone · Size: 5 lb, Grind: Cone · $171.00 · In stock
  • 5 lb / Drip · Size: 5 lb, Grind: Drip · $171.00 · In stock
  • 5 lb / Cold Brew · Size: 5 lb, Grind: Cold Brew · $171.00 · In stock

How to brew

TasteMatch starting point · light roast

V60 / pour-over

For this lighter roast, pour-over is a starting point for clarity and origin character. Hoffmann and Gagné’s extraction guidance supports starting toward the hotter end, then adjusting by taste.

V60 / pour-over

Clean, bright, and sweet. The pour-over that shows off a coffee's origin.

Ratio
60 g/L (15 g : 250 g)
Grind
Medium-fine
Water
Just off the boil, ~93–100°C
Time
≈ 3:00–3:30
  1. Rinse the paper filter with hot water and discard the rinse water.
  2. Bloom with about twice the coffee's weight in water, then swirl and wait 45 seconds.
  3. Pour the rest in steady stages up to the full weight.
  4. Give it a gentle swirl so the bed drains flat and evenly.

Recipe references: James Hoffmann, Jonathan Gagné

Tasting notes & sources

Extraction, simply

Sour or thin coffee usually means under-extraction, so grind finer or brew longer. Bitter or drying coffee usually means over-extraction, so grind coarser or brew shorter. Change one variable at a time. Research from UC Davis's Coffee Center and Jonathan Gagné's writing explains the physics behind these rules.

Tasting like a cupper

Professional tasters score coffee on fragrance and aroma, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, sweetness, uniformity and clean cup, following the SCA cupping protocol. You can borrow the same habit at home: smell the dry grounds, then the wet crust, then taste the coffee hot, warm and cool. Flavor opens up as the cup cools, so don't judge it in the first sip.

Using the flavor wheel

The SCA Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel, built on the World Coffee Research Sensory Lexicon, works from the inside out. Start in the center with broad families — fruity, sweet, nutty/cocoa, floral, spicy, roasted — then move outward to specifics like berry, citrus, caramel or jasmine. If a coffee tastes "fruity," ask what kind of fruit. Naming flavors gets easier the more deliberately you compare cups side by side.

Acidity, body and sweetness

Acidity is brightness, not sourness: think citrus, apple or wine-like sparkle, and it's prized in high-grown coffees. Body is the weight on your tongue, from tea-like to syrupy. Sweetness signals ripe fruit and a clean roast. When a brew tastes flat or harsh, adjust the extraction first, then revisit what you taste.

Grown in EthiopiaExplore it on the origins map