Cupping at Trabocca and the market in Addis

We made it to the offices of Trabocca to cup a few newly arriving coffees. These coffees were fresh - a couple naturals had been delivered to the office in dried cherry just that morning - they had to hand hull and roast the coffee before noon for us. Not exactly the most ideal conditions for evaluating coffee, but here we go right? What a treat to taste coffee so incredibly fresh - it happens every time I travel anywhere. It's smart to cup coffee at home before pulling the trigger and buying, but it's always eye-opening to taste coffee so close to harvest before it's faded at all. The naturals were like a slap in the face, and there were two very nice washed coffees: an organic Sidamo and a FTO Yirg. Trabocca works with a lot of cooperatives, washing stations, and private mills so they have access to a lot of different coffees. We'll be back in Addis around the 23rd and then again on the 28th so we'll have more chances to taste other coffees they have been receiving. I think it's still a teeny bit early to be cupping some of these so I'm glad I'm not on the hook for choosing coffee to fulfill a contract.
After cupping a few of us took off to explore the big local marketplace in Addis. It was indeed big. I took a few snaps here and there, but mostly people didn't want us taking a bunch of pictures with them around, except for the groups of young boys who let Tom take pictures if he gave them money. I was carrying Forrest's heavy little camera and I think I may have effed it all up. * Dude - it's like crazy dusty here, good thing you gave me that cute little brush!*