ETHIOPIA TAFERI KELA STATIC CHERRY ANAEROBIC NATURAL

This microlot comes from the community of Taferi Kela in Sidamo, Ethiopia, and is processed by Bette Buna, or “House of Coffee,” a company deeply rooted in the village since Dawit and Hester took over the family farm and community stewardship from Dawit’s grandparents, Syoum and Emame. Though Taferi Kela lies in the same mountain range as better-known Sidama coffee areas, it has long been overlooked by other industries. Bette Buna has worked to change that by training farmers in soil regeneration, agroforestry, and selective harvesting of ripe cherries, while also distributing over 350,000 climate-adapted seedlings annually to increase long-term farmer income. Their commitment to equal opportunity employment includes hiring people with disabilities, single mothers, and other marginalized groups, while maintaining exceptional traceability for every lot they produce.

This lot was processed using Bette Buna’s “Static Cherry” method, developed and refined over the past two years. Cherries were first rested in the sun for a few hours before undergoing controlled anaerobic fermentation. Once fermentation reached the desired parameters, the cherries were spread in thin layers on raised African drying beds, allowing airflow to ensure even drying.  

This stage took about 20–25 days, depending on climate conditions, until the cherries reached optimal moisture content. The coffee then rested in cherry for a minimum of eight weeks to enhance complexity before hulling. After dry milling to remove the hulls, the beans underwent multiple rounds of hand sorting, screening by size and density, and color sorting at Bette Buna’s dry mill in Gelan, near Addis Ababa, before being prepared for export.

This static cherry variation of anaerobic natural processing is a new one for us and we're loving the floral notes it brings out in this lot. There's a deep watermelon sweetness to this coffee and as it cools in the cup, we're tasting increased sweetness and notes of guava.