Heirloom is a trade label for Ethiopian coffee of mixed, mostly unidentified landrace genetics. It is a catch-all term, not one variety.
Heirloom is not a single coffee variety. In specialty coffee it became a blanket label, first used by buyers who could not name the varieties they were buying, and it is now printed on most Ethiopian export lots. In Ethiopia the word covers native varieties, many still wild, plus the selections released by the Jimma research center, and a single lot can mix many genetically different trees. Two heirloom lots from the same district can taste quite different. Roasters increasingly say landrace instead, and buyers who want to know what is in the bag should ask for the region, washing station or specific variety name.
Field notes
- i
Some sources use 'heirloom' for any old cultivar (100 years or 50 years old, depending on the definition), which is part of why the term is so imprecise.
- ii
Ethiopian producers separate JARC-released varieties from regional landraces, but the export label 'heirloom' lumps them together.
Grown in
- Ethiopiaorigin
Sources · 3 Every sentence here was checked against a source we read. Taste notes are what guides describe, not promises about your bag. Last revised 2026-11-11. Some details here are less settled than others.
- Understanding The Myth of Heirloom Variety Coffee · Perfect Daily Grind
- Exploring Ethiopian Heirloom Coffee Varieties · Perfect Daily Grind
- Heirloom Ethiopian Coffee Varieties and Landraces · Ethio Coffee (exporter)