The Tale of Party Animals cannot begin without a herd of barnyard critters! Our petting zoo began back in 2005 when Brandon's dad asked him if he would be interested in taking over a mobile petting zoo. Brandon, 9 years old at the time and in love with all animals, instantly said "yes!" Like any good party, you need a nice variety to entertain everyone. The herd of animals instantly began to grow, ranging from goats, llamas, donkeys, horses, chickens, pigs, cattle and even a wallaby! However, one thing stood proven... llamas and alpacas were unique enough to peak any kid - and adult's - interest. Our zoo began with Barb's dad, Marble, being the star of the show. However, as soon as Barb was born it was clear that a cute, curious, baby llama would soon become the fan favorite. But without the efforts from the entire barnyard, there may have never been a petting zoo... which eventually led to the creation of Llama Bean Coffee Company - Oh NO! 
 
So what made us choose an Ethiopian coffee to pair with the Barnyard Brew? As legend tells it, coffee's discovery involved an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi dating back to the 9th century. Kaldi noticed his goats became unusually energetic (Comparable to our llama Barb's energy, probably) after eating cherries from a tree. Kaldi would then spread the word to local monks who then turned the unknown cherry into a hot beverage which would later be known as "coffee".
 
Learn more about coffee's origin at https://www.aboutcoffee.org/origins/history-of-coffee/
 
The road south out of Addis Ababa leads straight to the coffee country. The new highway toll road makes travel to the lowlands quicker than ever, but the pace slows down when the road starts to climb into the mountains. At Shashamane town, the western road carries travelers into the heart of the Sidama Guji coffee region, past family farms and pointed huts made of curved reeds.
Thousands of small farmers live in this area, growing coffee at high altitudes where the Rift Valley meets the Bale Mountains. Farms range in size from 1 to 20 hectares, and banana and mango trees grow alongside coffee trees, imparting their fruity flavors into the soil. For hundreds of years, people here have governed by the Gadaa system, an indigenous democratic process of electing a leader and local representatives.
The area is rich in history – and rich in coffee. Producers bring their ripe harvests to central washing stations, where the cherries are pulped and washed with mountain spring water the same day. The pulped coffee goes into a fermentation tank for 72 hours, then is washed, spread, and sun-dried for up to 2 weeks on raised beds. The people of the Guji region take pride in the high quality of this sweet, clean coffee.