We've been buying coffee from Ashenafi Argaw of Ardent for a number of years now. The reasons are twofold. His coffees are outstanding. There aren't many producers who have had their coffees scored at 97 points by Coffee Review. Ashenafi has. Toward the end of 2025 he was appointed as the first ever president of the Ethiopian Speciality Coffee Association. He's a giant of the industry.

Another reason for buying from Ardent are Ashenafi's principles. Ethiopia has been a war torn country for a number of years. One of the obvious outcomes of this is to leave many children without parents. To help with this, Ashenafi opened the Ardent Children's Centre to look after these kids and provide them with a future. There are now two centres looking after 70 children between them. In 2025 we donated $5000 toward this. In October of this year, Ashenafi built and opened a school in Wicho, Sidama, a place where his grandparents still live. We're really proud to support such work.

Our tasting/cupping notes for this second coffee come from our Q Grader, Monika. She'll always find at least 7 or 8 aromas, taste notes etc and then select the three she finds most pronounced to put on our bags. For this coffee she selected Blueberry, Tangerine and Milk chocolate.