Country: Ethiopia
Region: Bona, Bensa
Varietal: JARC 74158
Process: Natural
Altitude: 2,200 MASL
Cupping Notes: Blackberry, Peach, Red Grape
Recommended Roast:City to Full City
Good For:Pour Over, Auto Drip, Espresso

Description: 

A little about Kebede Nekemo from our export partner:

“Kebede Nekemo has been born into a coffee family. Born in Bona, Bensa and raised by his grandparents who were first-generation coffee farmers, Kebede’s knowledge of coffee is huge. Now he owns a farm of about 4.5 hectares which he inherited from his late father. Kebede is committed to only picking ripe cherries and has trained many farmers around Bona to only pick ripe cherries to increase the value they get out of them. Kebede does not work on his farm by himself, he has three sons and two daughters all helping during the harvest season. Kebede’s first son Assefa also helps us with coffee processing at the washing station. Kebede tells us that he hopes next year’s cup of excellence will take place in Ethiopia and is committed to participate in it.”

The Bona kebele (community) is one of twenty kebeles in the Bensa District, a region that produces some of our favorite cup profiles in Ethiopia. The high elevation and recognition on a global scale has proven to locals the value of specialty coffee, and because of this Bensa continues to produce some of the highest scoring coffees in the country. Often the top scoring lots at the Ethiopian Cup of Excellence are a high percentage of coffees from Sidama. The Bona washing station serves a total of 130 smallholder producers who each farm less than 2 hectares each on average. BUT, this lot is from a single farm, owned and operated by Kebede Nekemo who has 4.5 hectares of JARC 74158 coffee planted. The region produces mostly JARC selected varieties for their yield and resistance to disease. Cherries are placed on raised beds to begin drying within 12 hours of being harvested, and will spend 15-20 days on the drying beds until they reach ideal moisture. After finishing drying, coffee will remain in fruit for roughly two months after drying, the washing station manager does this to preserve the most flavors present in the fruit as possible. The 2023 harvest in harvest came with some unique issues in the Bensa District. When local prices saw a bump early in the season, some of the larger buyers started buying as much as they could fearful of scarcity, essentially starting a bidding war and raising prices as much as double in some areas. For specifics, cherry price per kg typically ranges from 50-60 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) per kg, and this coffee was sold at 84 ETB per kg. This of course raised the prices for green coffee out of this area, but we’re lucky that quality remains very high for these coffees. 

When in Ethiopia earlier this year we cupped hundreds of lots and this was among our favorites, and on the arrivals cupping table, this was our highest scoring natural. We love the unique fruit characteristics and dense sweetness. Our export partner got a lot of tropical fruits, and we get notes of Blackberry, Peach, and Red Grape.