Ethiopia — Basha Bekele Bombe Drying Station 74158 (Natural)

Tastes Like — 🌸 Floral • 🍋 Pink Lemonade • 🍈 Lychee • 🍷 Red Wine

DETAILS

• Producer: Basha Bekele & 126 Smallholder Outgrowers
• Farm: Various Smallholders + Basha's 12 Hectares
• Region: Bensa, Ethiopia
• Varietal: 74158
• Process: Natural
• Altitude: 2350 MASL
• Drying Station: Bombe Drying Station
• Size: 12oz (340g)

INTRO

The floral nose on this coffee might be a dead giveaway of its high-grown Ethiopian roots, but the tasting notes are just a tad off-profile, in really delicious ways! Tropical fruit, like lychee, can be turned up or down depending on how you choose to brew it. Sweetness and citrus play together here to give us something like pink lemonade. And there's a really special, unexpected red wine character about this coffee, reminding us of our favourite Pinot Noir.

THE PRODUCER

Inspired by his father, Basha Bekele is a community man at heart. He works with 126 registered outgrowers throughout Bensa, operates three drying stations there, and (with the help of his father) built a church for the residents of Bombe near the drying station where this particular lot was processed. Although he grows his own coffee on twelve hectares of semi-forested land, Basha continues to pay smallholders a premium for delivering cherry to his drying stations for processing and export, going so far as to deliver a second payment after the coffee is sold—a practice we don't often see in Ethiopia!

THE PROCESS

The Natural process at Bombe Drying Station involves:

• 🍒 Peak Ripeness Picking — Cherries picked by smallholders at optimal ripeness
• 💧 Floating — Quality control through water flotation
• ☀️ Raised Bed Drying — Whole cherries spread out to dry on raised beds in the African sun

This straightforward natural processing allows the inherent qualities of the terroir and varietal to shine through.

THE CUP

High-grown Ethiopian character with delicious off-profile notes. Floral nose with tropical fruit like lychee. Sweetness and citrus combine for pink lemonade vibes, with an unexpected red wine character reminiscent of Pinot Noir. A natural Ethiopian that showcases both classic florality and surprising complexity.

Flavour Notes

• 🌸 Floral
• 🍋 Pink Lemonade
• 🍈 Lychee
• 🍷 Red Wine

What is the roast recency?

We recommend brewing with beans that are at least two weeks off roast. All beans are roasted to peak flavour at around 6-12 weeks. We have the option to either purchase standard beans (at least 2 weeks but no longer than 6 weeks off roast), or rested beans (at least 7 weeks off roast, no longer than 12 - should we have any left in stock!). For peak flavour, if you are looking to use immediately, we recommend purchasing the rested beans. If you are adding to your rotation of beans, we recommend purchasing the standard and allowing the beans to naturally rest and mature whilst you rotate through other beans.