Ethiopia Asnakech Kickstart Natural

We’re getting about 25 different coffees from our Ethiopian partners Bette Buna this year, so we’ve decided to name each lot after one of the people who worked on producing it, exporting it, or contributing to social work at Bette Buna.

This one is named for Asnakech (pictured above). Being a single mom is tough anywhere, but it's especially challenging in Ethiopia. When Bette Buna offered her a job at their coffee plant nursery back in 2021, Asnakech jumped in wholeheartedly and has proven invaluable ever since. She's now a leader of the nursery women's group and inspires everyone with her tireless work and clever management style. 

This "kickstart" natural coffee is super sugary and juicy thanks to a special processing technique developed by the Bette Buna team. The cherries were flash-fermented before continuing with the natural process, giving them an extra burst of sweetness alongside fruity notes of peach, raspberry, and clementine. We think it tastes like a Peach Melba.

For a bit more about Bette Buna, check out our blog post here or read on below ...

Betta Buna was founded by partners Hester Westerveld-Syoum and Dawit Syoum when they inherited their grandfather’s tiny family farm in Taferi Kela, Sidamo. With a background in NGO and development work, they decided to grow and scale the farm as the foundation for a larger company with greater impact.

Having started in 2019, they have already grown considerably. They have expanded the Taferi Kela farm from 2 to 50 hectares and have spread to a second 50-hectare farm in Megadu, Guji. Both farms have tree nurseries where climate change-resistant varietals are grown to share with surrounding farmers. Similarly, they have facilities where they not only process their own lots but also educate other farmers in processing techniques, while their Coffee Campus programme provides training in roasting, brewing, and even exporting. They provide countless opportunities for their farming communities by not only teaching and motivating farmers but also hiring local workers at their nurseries and mills, including single mothers and disabled people who would struggle to find employment elsewhere. They also work hard to incorporate sustainable farming methods, rewild forests on their land, and protect local wildlife to promote ecosystem health for coming generations.

To create this lot, the cherries were given a “kick” by putting them in an anaerobic environment for a short amount of time before continuing processing. Not long enough for official fermentation to begin, but long enough that the structure of the sugar within the cherries to change. This produces lots with more sweetness and body on top of the standard Sidamo natural profile. After this the coffee was dried normally on raised African-style beds.

Once the correct moisture level was reached, the cherry was bagged, tagged, and stored for a minimum of 8 weeks to improve the complexity and intensity of the cup profile. After dry milling locally to remove the hulls, the team applied another round of hand sorting to remove any primary defects. After that, the bags of green coffee were loaded on a truck to take a 3-5 day drive to the Bette Buna dry mill in Gelan, located close to Addis Ababa. Here the green beans underwent another round of cleaning, screening on size and density, and color sorting, and were bagged a final time, ready to be exported!

We're proud to support Bette Buna and plan to partner with them for many years to come.

Elevation: 1900-2100 MASL
Varietal: Enat Buna Taferi Kela, 74110, 74112
Cup score: 88
Price paid per kg: £9.56
Process: Kickstart Natural