Until earlier this month, it had been 9 years since One Line Coffee visited Ethiopia. If you’re reading this email, you know we consistently feature incredible coffees and relationships from the birthplace of Arabica coffee. In 2024, we formed a new relationship purchasing from Bekele Belaychow (pictured above in our shirt). His coffee is now in our Method Espresso Blend, but also offered as a single origin espresso, as well as a light roast profile.
We had previously been purchasing this allocation in our offering list from Kossa Geshe, another name you all are likely familiar with. For nearly 10 years we purchased this coffee, and we watched Kossa Geshe’s founder Abdu grow the farm into an Estate. Abdu has also purchased nearby land to be used for tourism. This success story emboldened us to set our sights on a new project. Our partners at Crop to Cup have been enthusiastic about the potential and energy around producers from Bensa. A Woreda (district) within the famous southern region of Sidama.
To understand the buzz around this area, you have to understand the political context that changed in 2018. Ethiopia’s government changed a rule that year that previously prohibited producers from owning their own export license. No longer forced to sell into large washing stations, co-ops, or corporate exporters, producers could control their own destiny. The challenge then is finding buyers, and connecting with the specialty market.
Enter Crop to Cup, enabling roasters like us to identify and support these producers.
In the world of specialty coffee, it’s no secret that the Sidama region of Ethiopia produces beautiful coffees. Temperate weather, high altitudes, a culture of coffee, and dedicated producers create the perfect environment to find special coffees throughout the region.
Bekele was immediately recommended to us as a leader in this region. He operates four farms around Bensa. Finchawa, Kokose, Hora Ganet, and Murago. Together these farms contain 31 hectares of coffee production. His Finchawa plot also functions as a coffee cherry collection station, where Bekele purchases cherry from nearby smallholders and processes the coffee on their behalf. The coffee we purchased from Bekele in 2024 was all from his Finchawa site.
It was important to us that this year we traveled to Ethiopia and cement this relationship to demonstrate to Bekele and this community that we are reliable buyers, and committed to sustainable relationships. This is especially relevant this year given the volatility of the coffee market. If you missed our previous newsletter on that topic, please use the link at the end and shoot me an email!
We were also able to visit other producers in this region we’ve purchased from previously like Nguisse Nare and Melese Wolde.
The First Day: Addis Ababa
Our first days in Ethiopia were spent in the cupping lab at CoQua in the capital of Addis. Cuppings have typically happened at the end of a visit for me, but time was of the essence due to the market, and it was necessary for our importing partners to book and secure contracts. It did give us the advantage of tasting each producer’s coffee for the harvest before meeting them. If you’re unfamiliar with coffee cupping, use the link below to read an article by Perfect Daily Grind.
Our one evening out in Addis was spent at an African Jazz Club. The music was phenomenal, and was a perfect demonstration of the rich artistic history of this country. I was intrigued to learn from our host for the week, Asnake, that among Ethiopians, the musicians have one of the highest VISA acceptance rates when trying to visit or live in the United States.
Bensa Visits
Bekele Belaychow (pictured above with me) was happy to learn of our 2024 purchase, and our plan to increase that volume in 2025. As mentioned above, Bekele operates four plots and we purchase from Finchawa. At Finchawa he operates 5 hectares of his own, but also purchases from 20 nearby smallholders. Total production is around 250 bags of coffee with Bekele’s own plot representing about 20% of the volume. One Line has committed to 100 bags for the 2025 harvest!
In 2024, we pooled resources with other roasters and Crop to Cup to help finance pulpers that went to Bekele and other producers in the area. The goal was to provide the resources necessary so that these producers could produce honey processed coffees. We cupped the results in Addis and were ecstatic with the first year of results. We will also be purchasing a white honey processed coffee from Bekele that was a result of this project.
When visiting with Bekele, I asked him what message he would like me to give to our customers and partners, and he simply said, “tell them thank you.” It’s a down-to-earth reminder that every purchase from you, whether it be a 4oz sample pack or 50lbs for a cafe, enables us to turn around and buy more coffee from these producers.
Over a few days we were able to meet with several other producers. Tomas Genemo, Belayneh Beriso, Nguisse Nare, Basha Bekele, and of course, Bekele Belaychow. We will be bringing in coffee from ALL of these producers in 2025.
Tomas is a newcomer to the specialty scene, but no stranger to coffee production. He operates two plots in Shantawane and Bombe totaling 8 hectares. He has improved his coffee quality recently by following processing protocols developed by Christopher Feran, and distributed by Crop to Cup. We have purchased a natural processed coffee from Tomas’ Shantawane plot that we are thrilled with.
Belayneh Beriso (pictured above on the right, with his brother on the left) is also a new relationship for us. We visited his Bombe plot where he has 12 hectares of production and also collects cherries from nearby smallholders. We’re excited to say we will have an anaerobic natural from this plot arriving!
We also visited with Cup of Excellence winner Basha Bekele. His plot is at an incredible 2550m of elevation. Many coffee cherries had yet to ripen, and many were still drying on raised beds. We will also have an anaerobic natural from Basha.
We also were able to visit Nguisse Nare, a producer from whom we’ve purchased coffee for three years. Nguisse operates three plots in Bensa: Horoxtibro, Bombe, and Murago. The Murago plot we visited is at 2350m of elevation and is primarily accessible by motorbike.
Riding on the back of these was an absolute blast!
Nguisse produces both naturals and anaerobic naturals, and is hoping to produce honey processed coffees next harvest. This year we will be purchasing a natural processed coffee from his Murago site that we visited.
It’s impossible to include every detail of these trips, but we hope to share as much as we can. As always, we are available for any questions and are happy to discuss coffee with anyone that is interested! Please use the email link below to ask about our trips, our available coffees, or anything on the horizon. I share Bekele’s message when I say thank you. We couldn’t do it without all of you.
Zach Donabedian – Director of Coffee