Ethiopia Sidama Bombe Natural

This is the third year we have chosen to bring in a lot from the Bombe kebele in the Sidama region of Ethiopia. This year we chose a mild natural and that is an easy daily drinker and reminds us more of a washed process than the juicy red fruit notes we are used to finding in Natural process coffees. We like to pick a coffee like this because the smallholder producers use traditional farming methods and when the coffee from each of those farms is combined into a single lot, it brings some lovely complexity and depth of flavor that is very different from the single farm single & varietal coffees that we also source.

Natural processed coffee uses the least amount of water and energy to accomplish the same goal of removing the coffee seed (bean) from the coffee cherry. Once harvested the coffee cherries are spread out to dry without removing any of the coffee skin or fruit mucilage. The cherries can be dried in any number of ways, sun or shade, concrete pads or raised beds, mounded or flat, anywhere from 7 to 28 days, and with each variation from each producer, a slightly different result. Once the cherry is dried it is sent through a dry mill (often a regional facility) that removes the skin, (dry) fruit matter, and parchment layer at the same time. Though it is common practice to combine the green coffee from multiple farms to create a lot big enough for green coffee buyers (like us) to be interested. We also source single farm, natural process coffees.

This coffee, like many in Ethiopia, undergo an initial rinsing to clean any debris off the cherries, and a float sorting process to remove any cherries that are a different density from the majority of the cherries. Once the first sorting process is done the cherries are spread on raised drying beds where it gets dried under the hot sun, getting turned by hand for even drying while the workers also hand-sort any defects they find. The resulting profile is much more like a washed process coffee, with blood orange and dried apricot notes presenting themselves.

Farm Description:
Producers in the Bombe kebele reside in the elevated and verdant valley of Bombe Mountain located within the Bensa wordea of Sidama. Coffee cultivation is typically done by smallholder farmers who employ traditional farming methods, hand-picking ripe cherries during the harvest season. The coffee cherries undergo meticulous processing at the washing station, which for this Natural lot includes rinsing and density sorting, hand sorting on the drying tables, and long hot days under the sun to reach optimal moisture readings before being dry-hulled, bagged, and transported to Addis Ababa for export milling before shipment.
 The coffees from Bombe consistently impress with their density and rich flavor profiles. They tend to feature heavy concentrations of smaller screen sizes, primarily 14 and 15, which distinguishes them from the lots from Shantawene and Keramo. Additionally, there is a slightly higher proportion of the Mikicho variety in Bombe coffees, identifiable by its larger cherries with distinctive wavy leaves and elongated, canoe-shaped seeds. Mikicho is closely related to the renowned Gesha variety.
 The Bombe community works in partnership with ZEM Coffee, a vertically integrated coffee company founded by Ethiopian and American trio Zele, Emily, and Michael. The ZEM team and founders have been pivotal in the development of Bensa, Sidama area as a globally- recognized quality origin, beginning with the 2013/14 harvest and really deepening with each year as they first introduced “Bensa” coffees to their clients and then began, with their partners, to isolate first by area and then to the village, such as Boekelman, and Shantawene.
International recognition followed, including numerous awards including multiple Good Food Awards, several top Gold Bean Awards, and various other coffee competitions due to the distinctive flavor, high density, and unique qualities of these coffees.
In the 2017/18 harvest year, the ZEM founders further deepened their partnerships with these producers by isolating individual farms and supporting these producers to export coffees through their own export licenses, bringing them enormous financial benefits despite the very high workload required to pull it off.

Region: Sidama
Farm: Smallholder Farms (less than 5 hectares)
Producer: Smallholder Producers
Process: Natural
Variety: 74158, 74112, Mikicho
Elevation: 2000-2226 MASL
Tasting Notes: Apricot, Blackberry, Blood Orange, Peach Candy