Ethiopia — Basha Bekele Gonjobe Ethiopian Heirloom & JARC 74158 (Natural)

Tastes Like — 🍊 Blood Orange • 🍓 Red Berries • 🌸 Florals • 🍯 Honey

DETAILS

• Producer: Basha Bekele
• Region: Gonjobe village, Bensa, Sidama, Ethiopia
• Varietal: Ethiopian Heirloom & JARC 74158
• Process: Natural
• Altitude: 2,450–2,580 masl
• Recognition: 2024 Ethiopia Cup of Excellence; 2025 Taste of Harvest (from his Gonjobe lots)
• Roast Profile: Lighter roast

INTRO
Gonjobe is the village that made Basha Bekele's name, and it's one of the coffees Mazelab pours in its own shops. On his highest ground, on red nitisol soils, the nights fall to around 13°C and the cherries ripen slowly. In the cup: blood orange, red berries, florals, and honey.

THE PRODUCER
Basha Bekele is one of the youngest and most driven producers in Bensa. Since 2021 he has built a network of high, cool farms across Murago, Kokose, Badagalo, and Gonjobe, all on nitisol soils between roughly 2,350 and 2,580 metres, and he runs his own dry mill in Bombe village. From his single-farm lots in Gonjobe he won the 2024 Ethiopia Cup of Excellence and the 2025 Taste of Harvest. Mazelab has worked with him for three years, since before those wins, and keeps buying across his sites. His careful picking, floating, and slow drying show in clean, floral, vividly fruited cups.

74158 is one of the improved varieties developed by the Jimma Agricultural Research Center, released to resist coffee berry disease while still cupping beautifully. In Sidama it's often grown and sold under the local landrace name Kurume.

THE PROCESS
Basha picks ripe red cherry from his own and his family's farms in Gonjobe. The cherries are floated, sorted by hand on raised tables, and dried whole on African beds under clean mesh for four to five weeks, then travel to his dry mill in Bombe village for hulling.

The slow four-to-five-week whole-cherry drying is the defining step. It builds the sweet berry and honey character while keeping the cup clean and floral.

THE CUP
Clean, floral, and vividly fruited: blood orange and red berries lead, with florals and a honey sweetness.

Flavour Notes
🍊 Blood Orange 🍓 Red Berries 🌸 Floral 🍯 Honey