Bean History
Harvesting
Coffee farming involves trees that are usually cultivated near a homestead, with trees being intensively grown on large farms alongside shade trees such as Enset, Albizia, Acacia, Militia, and Polyscias. During the harvest period from October to December, the coffee is mainly hand-picked to ensure only ripe cherries are harvested while unripe cherries are left for later. Our workers make several passes over a period of many weeks to harvest the cherries at their optimal maturity.
Sorting & Processing
The ripe cherries are sorting from the unripe ones which can be done by hand. This specific lot from Bombe village involves cherries being floated and hand-sorted to ensure only the highest quality fruit proceeds to the next stage. This meticulous manual sorting is essential for maintaining the integrity and the expressive nature of the Sidama Bensa profile.
Drying
Sun drying is still the preferred technique so we are using sun drying system on raised beds. The cherries are dried for 12–15 days, often shaded from the afternoon sun to protect the beans. The total drying duration is significantly influenced by atmospheric factors, including wind, cloud cover, and the amount of sunlight, until the beans attain a moisture content of 10-12%. After conditioning in local warehouses, the coffee is finished at a dry mill in Addis Ababa.
