This coffee, year after year, is exceptional. Rarely do we find such a complex yet beautifully clean example of what Ethiopian coffee can be. It is intensely aromatic, with exquisite florals of violet and jasmine that open up to vanilla, nectarine and ripe melon. It is delicate and elegant, with a bright and lively acidity.
Ethiopian Landrace
Bensa, Sidama
2,300 masl
January, 2021
Hand picked at peak ripeness. Floated to further remove defects. Depulped. Grade 1 density separated. Wet fermented for 12-14 hours. Dried on raised beds for 10-12 days.
Bensa, Sidama has proven itself to be an outstanding region for high quality coffee production. Harbegona comes to us under the careful oversight of Heleanna Georgalis, and is an exquisite representation of this region. This is our third year working with this washing station, and the quality remains exceptional.
Ethiopia is widely acknowledged as where coffee originated, and its production continues to represent about 10% of the country’s gross domestic product. DNA testing has confirmed over 60 distinct varieties growing in Ethiopia, making it home to the most coffee biodiversity of any region in the world. Given the tradition of coffee production in Ethiopia and the political interworkings of the Ethiopian coffee trade, it is virtually impossible to get single variety coffee lots from Ethiopia. This is changing, albeit very slowly. Most Ethiopian coffees are blends of the many Ethiopian varieties, and referred to simply as 'Ethiopian Landrace'.
The cost of getting a coffee from cherry to beverage varies enormously depending on its place of origin and the location of its consumption. The inclusion of price transparency is a starting point to inform broader conversation around the true costs of production and the sustainability of specialty coffee as a whole.