AFRO FUNK #5

Farmers: Bekele Belacho & 100 small holders

Origin: Bensa Kokose, Sidama, Ethiopia

Altitude: ~1900-2100m

Process: dry 24hr anaerobic process

Varietal: 74158

Notes: black cherry, apple candy, passionfruit

One of only 2 naturals we'll receive all year from Ethiopia. This one was such a fruit cornucopia with loads of elegance & complexity. Surprisingly soft qualities as well but enough body to prove this is indeed coffee & not tea. So stoked to get this one out there. Hope we get the roasts as close to perfection as possible. PLEASE age this one appropriately as always. Do not brew too close to the roast date. 0 : )

BEKELE

The de-facto leader and organizer of a collective of independent smallholder farmer-exporters around Bensa, we’ve been buying Bekele Balacho since 2019—Crop to Cup was his first direct export customer. A family man—he has 11 children with his two wives—Bekele operates his farms and drying stations with the help of his family. His son, Beleteno, who graduated this year from Hawassa University with an economics degree, manages his Hora Ganet farm (which means “Spring Paradise”). Between his farm in Bombe and a smaller, 5 hectare farm in Kokose (with its own drying station), Bekele purchases cherry from more than 100 smallholders, producing a total of 1.5 containers of coffee. Like many collectors in Ethiopia, his bottleneck, with cherry prices as high as they are, is financing. Bekele is a connector and a consummate professional—an ideal partner, willing to engage with every idea for improving his coffee and helping his community. During our visit, Bekele expanded his shaded drying area to cover nearly his entire station, protecting the natural process coffees—traditional, anaerobic and lactic styles—he produced there, and verifying their final moisture content with a moisture meter.