Ethiopia — Mulugeta Muntasha Bursa "Unique" Ethiopian Heirloom (Cold Fermentation Natural)

Tastes Like — 🍓 Red Berry • 🍬 Brown Sugar • 🍑 Apricot • 🍋 Lemon

DETAILS

• Producer: Mulugeta Muntasha (Dawencho drying station)
• Region: Bursa, Arbegona, Sidama, Ethiopia
• Varietal: Ethiopian Heirloom
• Process: Cold Fermentation Natural
• Altitude: 2,200–2,350 masl
• Roast Profile: Lighter roast

INTRO
Mulugeta Muntasha's cold fermentation lot from Bursa in Arbegona, rested through a long cold ferment and then dried whole as a natural. In the cup: red berry, brown sugar, apricot, and lemon.

THE PRODUCER
Bursa is a kebele high in the Arbegona woreda of Sidama. Mulugeta grew up there and spent years driving trucks in Arsi before coming home in 2021 and building the Dawencho drying station. It went well almost at once: his site placed second in the Ethiopian Cup of Excellence that first year, and the year after, four of the country's ten best lots had passed through his hands, including the winner. He now runs a small group of sites across Sidama and takes cherry from a few hundred neighbouring smallholders working plots of a hectare or two around Bursa. At 2,200–2,350 masl, the cherry ripens slowly and arrives dense and sweet.

THE PROCESS
Unique is his cold fermentation lot. The cherry is picked ripe, rested through a long cold ferment, and dried whole as a natural. By his own account, nothing holds the tank down but the ground water and the cold night air, so the ferment builds slowly and evenly and is stopped before it turns.

The long cold ferment is the defining step. It builds sweetness and structure without the ferment flavours a warm tank starts throwing off, giving the red berry and brown sugar character.

THE CUP
Sweet and structured: red berry and brown sugar lead, with apricot and lemon coming through behind.

Flavour Notes
🍓 Red Berry 🍬 Brown Sugar 🍑 Apricot 🍋 Lemon