SAMII BENSA, ETHIOPIA

Country: Ethiopia

Field: Sidamo/West Arsi, Nensebo

Producer: 800 small farmers in the area who bring their coffee berries to the Bensa washing station.

Processing: Washed and dried on raised beds

Varieties: A mixture of different traditional varieties of the region

Altitude: 1950-2000m

Harvest: 2023

Roasted in Finland on April 10th

Roasted into filter coffee - Light roast

“ Gasoline (=Bensa in Finish) for the flames! Because we have the Samii Bensa coffee from last year back at our selection. This great coffee from Ethiopia, Sidamo, Nensebo area has a taste of: tea-like, citrus and tropical fruit, and syrupy sweetness.

Testi Coffee Exporters, in collaboration with the fantastic staff at Nordic Approach, provide our final washed Ethiopian from the 2023 harvest. Faisel Abdosh and his cousin Adam own and operate Testi, which has seven washing stations in Southern Ethiopia. This lot from the Bensa station is a perfect way for us to wrap up a year of outstanding Ethiopian coffees.

Throughout the harvest period, local smallholders regularly deliver their ripe cherries to the washing station for processing. Being their main cash crop, the farmers take great care to ensure only ripe cherry is picked to maximise their payments. Once enough cherries have been delivered, the washing station goes to work, firstly removing the skins of the fruit using a traditional Agaarde Disc-pulper before a 72-hour wet fermentation in one of the many tanks. Once fermentation has taken place, the coffee is washed through channels which allows the less dense beans to be removed, leaving the more desirable, higher-density beans behind. A further 2-hour soak in clean water is held before being moved to the raised drying tables for 10 days where the coffee is regularly turned and hand-sorted for visible defects.

On first tasting this coffee, the taste was very closed but we knew there was deliciousness just waiting to get out. Giving the green beans the rest needed to get the best out of them, we’re pleased to say the wait was worth it. With loads of fruity sweetness, florals and complexity, Samii Bensa is delicious. We hope you agree! ”