Ethiopia Basha 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 Basha (pictured above), one of the brightest young stars in the Taferi Kela community. Basha started working in the Bette Buna nursery at age 19 but quickly gained responsibilities thanks to his aptitude and integrity. Now 23, he’s renovated his farm, learned the basics of processing, and taken over some of the mill management for Bette Buna in Taferi Kela and Guji. He's an all-around stellar guy, and his big spirit gives us hope for the future of ethical Ethiopian coffee.

This tasty lot has a classic Ethiopia natural profile, with sweet, juicy notes of blueberry and golden raspberry paired with a hint of chocolately smoothness. 

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 two 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, fresh cherries were hand sorted by each farmer to clean out underripe/overripe cherries and any leaves or sticks. The sorted cherries were dried on African raised beds for about 20-25 days until they reached the right moisture level. The raised beds are important to facilitate airflow and ensure equal drying of each cherry.

Once the correct moisture level was reached, the cherry was bagged, tagged, and stored for a minimum of eight 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 three- to five-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 colour sorting. They were then 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: 2100 Metres Above Sea Level
Varietal: Enat Buna, 74158, 74112
Cup score: 87
Price paid per kg: £10.55
Process: Extended natural