Ethiopia Sidama Daye Bensa Reserve Washed
Daye Bensa is a big name in the Sidama region and they work with lots of smallholder farmers in the area, but this microlot comes directly from the founder's personal farm. Asefa Dukamo manages mountains of coffee, but this one warranted personal attention - only a handful of boxes made the cut and each one is serialized. It brews up crystal clean, surprisingly sweet and bursting with a bouquet of florals. The pinnacle of washed Ethiopian coffee!
The Bombe mountains get a lot of attention for producing incredible, intense natural processed coffees. But how about fully washed coffees? Well it should come as no surprise that they’re incredible too. However, you might not know that this region of Sidama was largely cut off from the open coffee market for many years due to the difficulty of logistics in the mountainous region. Thankfully, enterprisingly locals saw the potential of this region’s coffee and worked hard to bring it to the world market.
Asefa Dukamo founded Daye Bensa coffee in 1996 with the dream of bringing the coffee of Shantawene and Keramo villages to the world stage. 24 years later his dream came true when Daye Bensa won back to back to back Cup of Excellence Awards in 2020, 2021 and 2022. These days he and his team manage several farms and work with hundreds of local smallholder farmers, but Asefa still finds the time every season to take extra care with a few hand selected lots. This Founder’s Reserve makes up a tiny fraction of the coffee Daye Bensa brings to market and each small box is vacuum sealed and serialized for maximum traceability. In fact, De La Finca purchased this lot directly from Daye Bensa!
If you’ve shopped with TCC much, you’ve likely noticed we tend to favor bold, intense natural processed coffees when sourcing from Ethiopia. But we always keep an eye out for washed coffees that make a big splash to fully represent the origin. Well, this is definitely the biggest splash we’ve ever featured! Our cups had sparkling key lime brightness, plenty of sweet honey, a dash of cinnamon and an entire florist’s shop of florals. I noted jasmine and hibiscus as standouts though I also detected honeysuckle and more. Harmoniously balanced with a very clean finish, there’s also a green tea vibe, but it’s subtle and refreshing.
Reminder! This coffee is raw, you must roast it before brewing
Arrival Date: November 15th, 2024. Harvest season: 2024
Acidity & Brightness: Sparkling brightness and gentle sweetness
Balance & Finish: Very balanced with a very clean finish
Body & Texture: Full-bodied and silky texture
Flavors: Lime, jasmine, hibiscus, honey, green tea & cinnamon
Grade: Grade 1, grown at 1,950 to 2,150 masl
Processing: Fully washed (wet) processed
Grower: Asefa Dukamo | Daye Bensa Keramo Farm
Region: Keramo village, Bensa District, Sidama Zone, Ethiopia
Varietals: Local heirloom varieties
Recommended Roast Range: City to Full City (Light to medium)
Start at City (light) or just about 30 seconds into rolling first crack. From there, go a bit darker if desired, but we find it best not to go any darker than Full City (Medium or after the end of first crack and before 2nd crack starts). Most folks will prefer a City + or at the tail end of first crack. Lighter roasts will have more zesty, citrus acidity as well as more pronounced florality while medium roasts will accentuate a touch more body and rounded sweetness.
Daye Bensa Coffee - “Our main farm is located at the heart of Shantawene Village with in 10km from Daye town in the midst of natural forest and indigenous tress which are expected to be older than 200 years. The farm is at the reachable distance to out-growers in Bombe, Shantawene and Keramo villages. It is surround by rivers one of them separating Shantawene from Bombe which runs from the hills above Karamo. To maintain natural shades and the fertility of the soil with consultancy of expertise from the ministry of agriculture various shade trees are planted in the farm. Along with out-growers’ farms it is verified as Organic, C.A.F.E PRACTICE , UTZ and Rain Forest Alliances.
Under the name of the owner and General Manager of our company, Asefa Dukamo we have a farm in Keramo village in Bensa and one more large farm in Kaffa region. Apart from getting coffee from these farms it gives an opportunity to work with small coffee farm holders to reach out the community in helping them in maintaining, expanding and in providing training in addition to the provision of financial and technical support.”
