About This Coffee
Kebede Genale’s large farm, about 13 hectares, is unusual for Ethiopia but helps him produce excellent quality coffees in larger quantities. His fully functioning wet mill separates cherry by density and day in order to elevate the potential of the highest qualities.
Kebede’s late son worked in the local coffee and spice department in Buku. Kebede credits his son with introducing him to different processing styles, including the Natural process used in the lot.
Cultivation
Buku is gaining popularity for its unique flavor profile. Located in West Guji, Buku’s Naturals are juicy with berries and chocolate. The high altitude helps produce Buku’s signature dense beans. Mornings and nights are typically cold, which can make drying a challenge.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Kebede selectively handpicks ripe, red cherry and lay it to try on raised drying beds. He turns cherry every hour and covers it at midday and overnight, to prevent condensation. It takes approximately 16 days for cherry to dry. Once dry, Kebede bags coffee and stores it in a warehouse on the farm for two and half months before transporting it to the dry mill to be hulled and prepare for export.
Coffee in Ethiopia
While Ethiopia is famous as coffee’s birthplace, today it remains a specialty coffee industry darling for its incredible variety of flavors. While full traceability has been difficult in recent history, new regulations have made direct purchasing possible. We’re partnering directly with farmers to help them produce top quality specialty lots that are now completely traceable, adding value for farmers and roasters, alike.
The exceptional quality of Ethiopian coffee is due to a combination of factors. The genetic diversity of coffee varieties means that we find a diversity of flavor, even between (or within) farms with similar growing conditions and processing. In addition to varieties, processing methods also contribute to end quality. The final key ingredients for excellent coffee in Ethiopia are the producing traditions that have created the genetic diversity, processing infrastructure and great coffee we enjoy today.
Most producers in Ethiopia are smallholders, and the majority continue to cultivate coffee using traditional methods. As a result, most coffee is grown with no chemical fertilizer or pesticide use. Coffee is almost entirely cultivated, harvested and dried using manual systems.