Starbucks Coffees 8-oz. Ethiopian Sun Dried Shirkina, ...

Ethiopia is said to be the birthplace of coffee, the place from which all other coffee in the world originated. The people of Ethiopia believe coffee is their gift to the world and celebrate it in daily ceremonies involving family, friends, and neighbors. Ethiopians consume roughly half of their total annual coffee production - approximately five million 60-kilo bags. Most coffee is grown in small backyard "coffee gardens" using organic farming practices and is sold using a regulated auction system. This coffee comes from the partnership between Starbucks and the members of the Sidamo Farmers Cooperative Union (SCFCU), a federation of 87,000 small farms. Three SCFCU coopers began an experiment in 2003 to sun-dry (natural process) the finest red cherries instead of wet milling them first under Starbucks direction. This "natural" method, usually applied to inferior cherries by poor farmers who can't afford wet wills, risking wasting the valuable red fruit. However, by 2005, the process produced an exotic flavor, earning the SCFCU a Starbucks Black Apron Exclusive quality award and premiums for farmers of 40-60 above the price for other naturally dried cherries. Those prices, in turn, triggered a small investment boom in additional drying capacity for red cherries in Sidamo and elsewhere, promising to maximize income for the poorest farmers. Now all Starbucks® coffees are at your fingertips - StarbucksStore.com is the online resource for all Starbucks coffees. Buy Starbucks coffees - whole bean, ground, pods, caffeinated, decaf, single-origin, espressos, blends, organic, promotional/holiday/seasonal blends and Black Apron Exclusives - easily and conveniently, delivered to your home or office.