When people taste the Guji Natural for the first time, the most common reaction is surprise. The blueberry note is not subtle. It sits right at the front of the cup and it does not taste like something added. That is because it was not added. It came from the drying bed in the Guji zone of Ethiopia, where the whole cherry spent 28 days in the sun before the fruit was removed.

What happens during natural processing

In a washed coffee, the fruit is removed from the seed within hours of picking. In a natural, the whole cherry is laid out on raised beds or patios and left to dry with the fruit still on. As the cherry dries, the sugars and compounds in the fruit migrate through the parchment and into the seed. The result is a coffee with more body, more sweetness, and more fruit intensity than a washed lot from the same farm.

Why drying time and altitude matter

The 2026 Hambela Wamena lot dried for 28 days at 2,100 metres. The altitude means cooler temperatures and slower drying, which gives the fermentation more time to develop complexity without tipping into fermented or vinegary notes. Lots dried too quickly at lower altitudes often taste muddy or overripe. The difference between a 20-day and a 28-day dry at the same station can be significant in the cup.

How we adjust the roast for naturals

Natural coffees are more sensitive to heat in the roaster than washed lots. The residual fruit sugars caramelise faster, which means it is easy to push a natural into a roast level that masks the fruit rather than expressing it. For the Guji, we target a medium-light roast with a development time of around 20 percent of total roast time. We have pulled batches that went 30 seconds too long and the blueberry note disappears almost entirely.

What to expect in the cup

If you are brewing the Guji Natural as a filter, expect the fruit to be most prominent in the first few minutes after brewing. As the cup cools, the cacao note comes forward and the finish lengthens. For cold brew, the natural process works particularly well because the cold extraction preserves the sweetness without amplifying any bitterness. We use a 1:14 ratio and a 16-hour refrigerator steep.

Is natural process coffee for everyone?

Not necessarily. Some drinkers find the fruit intensity of a natural distracting, particularly if they are used to the cleaner, more acidic profile of a washed Ethiopian. If you are new to naturals, the Guji is a good starting point because the processing at Hambela Wamena is careful and consistent. If you want something in between, the Acatenango Honey from Guatemala sits between the two styles.

Natural process coffee is not a trick. It is a choice made at the farm level, and the quality of that choice determines everything that follows. The Guji Natural is in the current collection if you want to taste what 28 days on the drying bed produces.