History & Origins
The Sipi Falls coffee project was founded in 1999 to increase the quality of the coffee grown and to create a sustainable income for farmers.
The project is named after a series of three waterfalls that lie on the edge of the Mt. Elgon National Park, and one of the key parts of the project is the Sipi Falls Mill, a state of the art washing station where farmers could bring their coffee beans to be processed with modern techniques.
The wet mill was Africa’s first certified organic producer, in 2002. Built by the Kawacom export company, the team at Kawacom, the export company that built the Sipi Falls mill, recognized greater potential in the landscape than previously seen, and set about to capture that potential at scale.
Before 1999, the farmers on Mt. Elgon processed their coffee beans themselves, using rudimentary techniques that lowered the quality of the finished green coffee and resulted in low prices for the farmers.
Today, more than 20 years after its founding, continues to be a leader in affordable, certified coffee of the highest quality on the continent.
Sipi Falls, named after the mountain’s most famous waterfall just down the road, is a centralized wet mill located in the Kapchorwa district that buys and processes cherry from 8,000 organic and diversified farms across the northern part of the mountain.
Terroir & Growing Conditions
Perched on the slopes of Mount Elgon, a massive extinct volcano straddling the Uganda-Kenya border, the Sipi Falls region is a coffee lover’s paradise. At elevations ranging from 1,450 to 2,200 meters above sea level, over 8,600 smallholder farmers meticulously tend to their coffee plants.
Mt Elgon is an extinct volcano on the border with Kenya and is thought to be the oldest volcano on the African continent. The massive base and gentle slopes support thousands of smallholder farmers, with arabica coffee is cultivated across a broad band around the mountain between 1,200 and 2,200masl. Volcanic soils, plentiful rain, high altitude and abundant sunshine are all contributing factors to the excellent terroir of the Mt Elgon region.
Shade-grown at elevations between 1,600 and 1,900 meters, these Bourbon- and Typica-derived varieties are organically cultivated under banana and native trees. The region produces distinctive Bugisu Arabica coffee, with farmers grow varieties like SL- 14, SL-28, Nyasaland commonly known as Bugisu local because they do well in highlands.
Each farmer, cultivating an average of just 0.2 hectares, contributes to a complex tapestry of flavors that define this exceptional coffee.
The unique microclimate benefits from streams, rivers and a trio of majestic waterfalls, known as Sipi Falls, provide nutrient rich growing conditions. This combination of volcanic soils, high altitude, and abundant rainfall creates ideal conditions for producing specialty-grade arabica.
Processing & Production
Sipi Falls facilitates retrieval of cherry, mechanical de-mucilaging, fermentation, washing, patio pre-drying, mechanical drying and conditioning at their mill property at 1800m elevation. The station operates with on-site cupping lab they taste every finished batch immediately after drying completes, and then again multiple weeks later to verify the final rested quality for export.
The washing station employs multiple processing methods. Cherries are sorted by hand, washed in glacial spring water, and dried on raised beds before being milled and graded into clean, uniform size 15+ lots. Beyond traditional washed processing, the anaerobic natural method, a cutting-edge technique in the coffee world, involves fermenting the coffee cherries in an oxygen-deprived environment before drying.
Manager of the Washing Station, Juste likes to do a double fermentation on these coffees, with 24 hrs in the coffee cherries, and another 14 hrs depulped.
The qualities produced by scaling and centralizing processing mean a significantly higher cherry price to farmers; not to mention relieving them of the extended labor, risk, and expense of processing and storing coffee at the household level. The wet mill also recycles its wastewater through a series of filtered lagoons and maintains a large organic nursery for the benefit of participating farmers.
Cup Profile & Tasting Notes
A nice clean, balanced cup, medium bodied and lower acidity for an African. Best from a medium to dark roast. Although lower acidity, lighter roasts will still be a little citric and floral balanced with a rustic bakers chocolaty undertone.
This low acidic cup possesses a silky and creamy body with a sweet clean finish.
The flavor profile develops beautifully across roast levels. Medium roasts mute up the acidity and leave a little hint of a floral, developing a little soft fruit tone mixing with a smoother but still semi-sweet chocolate darker tones.
A medium, Full City, roast level, highlights the coffee’s candy sweetness and vanilla nougat richness.
Sipi Falls’ coffees are rich and delicious but also capable of surprising florality and mandarin-like sweetness. Specialty lots showcase crisp like green apple skin, softens toward golden raisin and subtle spice. A tea-like body keeps things elegant, with clean layers unfolding as the cup cools. The anaerobic natural processing reveals sweet, vibrant citrus and grape-like fruit notes lead the charge, followed closely by a subtly boozy chocolate undertone reminiscent of a fine liqueur.