coffeesterTHE COFFEE ENCYCLOPEDIA

Origin · Ethiopia

Harrar

Eastern Highlands

One of the world's oldest coffee names — dry-processed, wild, with blueberry and winey, almost fermented fruit.

Grown in the eastern highlands around the ancient walled city of Harar, Harrar coffee is among the longest-traded coffees on earth, exported through Red Sea ports for centuries and lending its name to the 'Moka-Harrar' lineage. Almost exclusively dry-processed because of the arid climate, classic Harrar is bold and rustic: heavy body, low acidity, and pronounced blueberry, blackberry, and winey fruit that can verge on the gamey. Cultivated by smallholders between about 1,500 and 2,100 metres, it represents a very different Ethiopian profile from the clean washed coffees of the south, and its name carries deep cultural and historical weight in the Arabica story.

Climate

Semi-arid eastern highland climate that necessitates natural processing.

Soil

Lighter, drier highland soils than Ethiopia's southwest.

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Last updated: June 13, 2026