Ethiopia, Belayneh Bariso

This coffee from African producer, Belayneh Bariso, is a great example of where Ethiopian coffees are headed with meticulous cultivation, processing, and traceability. Each coffee tree is picked multiple times to ensure each cherry that’s plucked has reached optimum ripeness. Then the beans are laid out on raised beds to dry in the sun until the beans reach optimum moisture content, between 15 and 21 days. Once ready, they’re transported to the dry mill where the dried cherry is removed and hand cleaned before being prepared for exporting. Through the meticulous harvesting and processing process, this coffee produces a flavor profile that reminds us of strawberries, melons, with a hint of vanilla. Our mouths are watering just thinking about it.

Where is it from?

Asnake Bekele is a legend in African coffees. He’s single handedly responsible for us all having the privilege of drinking quality natural-processed Sidama coffee. Many years ago, he presented the idea to producers to add raised-bed natural processing to their washed processed coffee. At the time, he was laughed at. But thankfully, he persevered, and now we all know the glory of natural-processed Sidama coffee.

This particular coffee is the product of producer, Belayneh Bariso, a producer that Asnake has invested in. Belayneh is focused on quality and advancing the future of traceable, single-origin coffees. Traceability has been notoriously difficult in regions like Sidama. But by being able to pinpoint exactly where a coffee came from, who it was produced by, and how it was processed, we’re able to bring transparency to the quality of the coffee, but also the work conditions of the people producing it.