Ethiopia

Shantawene

Wild anaerobic lot by Daye Bensa

A wild and tropical expression of Ethiopia, enhanced by Daye Bensa’s anaerobic fermentation.

The 72 hour anaerobic fermentation has created a new expression.

  • Producer
    Daye Bensa
  • Coffee expression
    A fruity & wild coffee
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$28.00

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Produced on a single plot of land by family run company Daye Bensa.

Anaerobic Heirloom

Shantawene

In 2006, brothers Asefa and Mulugeta Dukamo founded Daye Bensa, a coffee grower and exporter in Ethiopia. They now own several washing stations, serving more than 1400 smallholders in the towns of Bombe, Karamo and Shantawene in the Bensa district. This coffee however, rather uniquely for Ethiopia, was grown on a single farm, Daye Bensa’s own land just outside the village of Shantawene. Using the Shantawene farm as an example for the smallholder farmers they work with, Asefa and Mulugeta have participated in a government sponsored reforestation program, leading to enhanced shade and biodiversity in their fields, even by Ethiopian standards. This leads to well-nourished coffee trees, producing raw material that truly reflects the potential of this region. With this lot, they have used anaerobic fermentation to create a wild and tropical fruit driven take on already sweet and rich terroir flavours. Whole cherries are sealed in plastic tanks for 72 hours before being moved to raised drying beds, and turned often during the entire 3 week drying process.

This has created a clean expression, with notes of rich yellow fruits enhanced while holding on to the bright and floral character we expect from Sidamo coffees.

Etiopia

In Ethiopia, coffee still grows semi-wild, and in some cases completely wild. Apart from some regions of neighbouring South Sudan, Ethiopia is the only country in which coffee is found growing in this way, due to its status as the genetic birthplace of arabica coffee. This means in many regions, small producers still harvest cherries from wild coffee trees growing in high altitude humid forests, especially around Ethiopia’s famous Great Rift Valley.

There are three categories of forest coffee growing in Ethiopia, Forest Coffee (FC), Semi-Forest Coffee (SFC), and Forest Garden Coffee (FGC), with each having an increasing amount of intervention from coffee producers. Forest coffee makes up a total of approximately 60% of Ethiopia’s yearly output, so this is a hugely important method of production, and part of what makes Ethiopian coffee so unique.

Throughout all of these systems, a much higher level of biodiversity is maintained than in modern coffee production in most of the rest of the world. This is partly due to the forest system, and partly down to the genetic diversity of the coffee plants themselves. There are thousands of so far uncategorised ‘heirloom’ varieties growing in Ethiopia; all descended from wild cross pollination between species derived from the original Arabica trees. This biodiversity leads to hardier coffee plants, which don’t need to be artificially fertilised. This means that 95% of coffee production in Ethiopia is organic, although most small farmers and mills can’t afford to pay for certification, so can’t label their coffee as such. The absence of monoculture in the Ethiopian coffee lands also means plants are much less susceptible to the decimating effects of diseases such as leaf rust that have ripped through other producing countries.

Technical Data

  • Producer

    Daye Bensa
  • Region

    Sidamo
  • Altitude

    2100 masl
  • Varietal

    Heirloom
  • Process

    Anaerobic
  • Harvest

    January 2022

Anaerobic Process

The coffee is first pulped mechanically, removing most of the fruit, as with a white honey process. The parchment coffee and almost gel-like mucilage are then packed tightly into a small fermentation tank, and sealed with almost no oxygen present. As the fermentation starts to occur, carbon dioxide is produced, creating a completely anaerobic environment, and also high pressure within the tank. This affects coffee flavour in two ways. 

An anaerobic environment favours a very different set of fermenting bacteria and yeast, leading to a dominant lacto-fermentation. The pressure also forces coffee juices into the seed itself, adding more fermentable sugars to continue the process. The coffee is then dried with the mucilage still attached, as with a honey processed coffee. All of this adds layers of complexity to the final cup.


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152 2nd Ave

10003 New York

United States

Opening Hours:

Mon - Fri: 7:00 - 18:00

Sat - Sun: 8:00 - 18:00

284 Lafayette St

10012 New York

United States

Opening Hours:

Mon - Fri: 7:00 - 18:00

Sat - Sun: 8:00 - 18:00

Graven 20

8000 Aarhus C

Denmark

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sat: 8:00 - 18:00

Sun: 9:00 - 17:00

Borggade 4F

8000 Aarhus C

Denmark

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sun: 7:00 - 17:00

Møntergade 3A

1116 Copenhagen K

Denmark

Opening Hours:

Mon - Fri: 8:00 - 18:00

Sat - Sun: 9:00 - 17:00

Marguerite Vibys Plads 8

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark

Opening Hours:

Mon - Fri: 8:00 - 17:00

Sat - Sun: Closed

813 Charoen Krung Rd, Talat Noi, Samphanthawong

10100 Bangkok

Thailand

Opening Hours:

Mon - Fri: 8:00 - 17:00

Sat - Sun: 8:00 - 17:00

304 Phahonyothin Road, Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai

10400 Bangkok

Thailand

Opening Hours:

Mon - Fri: 08:00 - 17:00

Sat - Sun: 08:00 - 17:00

Al Qurum Complex

113 Muscat

Oman

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sat: 07:00 - 21:00

Sun: Closed

Contact

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Marguerite Vibys Pl. 1

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark

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Marguerite Vibys Pl. 1

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark

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Marguerite Vibys Pl. 1

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark

Have a question?

Please write us in the chat.

Marguerite Vibys Pl. 1

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark

Have a question?

Please write us here