Elgon Anaerobic

Mt Elgon is enormous. Zukuka Bora currently works across a growing network of communities spanning the mountain, with elevations ranging from around 1,400 to 2,200 meters. Each has its own climate, elevation, soils and growing conditions, making “Mt Elgon” less a single origin and more a collection of distinct coffee-producing regions.

Elgon is the name Zukuka Bora uses when coffees from across those regions come together. Sometimes that's about creating volume, but for their experimental lots it can be much more deliberate. Individual day lots are tasted and combined when they share a complementary flavour profile, creating a regional lot built around what is happening in the cup.

This lot takes that idea one step further through anaerobic fermentation.

Ripe cherry is sealed inside drums fitted with airlocks, allowing fermentation gases to escape while limiting oxygen. The coffee generally spends at least 72 hours in this environment, with the Zukuka Bora team monitoring individual batches and adjusting their approach throughout the harvest. Once fermentation is complete, the cherry is moved onto raised beds and carefully dried using the same approach as their natural coffees.

Experimentation has become an important part of Zukuka Bora's work on Mt Elgon. Their teams continue to test fermentation times and techniques, using what they learn from successful lots to improve processing across their growing network of sites.

The result here is distinctly fruit-forward, juicy and a little wild.