Berhanu Kurse

This coffee was grown by Mr. Berhanu Kurse and processed at the Banko Gotiti Washing Station in Gedeb, Gedeo, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia. This lot is a field blend of Landrace cultivars. Mr Berhanu Kurse grows coffee between 2200-2300 MASL.

Although specific processing details weren’t available to us for this coffee. It is processed as a “Natural” or “Dry” Process coffee. Natural coffees are typically delivered the day they are harvested, and are first sorted for ripeness and quality before being rinsed clean of dirt. Then they are spread on raised drying beds or tables, where they will be rotated constantly throughout the course of drying. Drying can take an average of 8–25 days, depending on the weather.

This is a juicy & clean natural. This one is bringing wild Strawberry aromas, subtle Raspberry, and an Rosehip-tea like tartness. This one is fruity and layered, with berries and subtle florals presenting in a way that highlights the quality of the fruit and the processing. Ethiopian naturals are some of the best of the style, in our opinion anyway. 

This is our first time purchasing coffee from Mr Berhanu Kurse. We felt that the accessibility to the bold fruit flavors and overall delicious-ness of this coffee made it a great candidate for a collaboration with our coffee-nerd-cohort Plini. For this seperate release, we opted to roast the coffee in our Light roast profile, keeping more of the delicate aromas preserved and highlighting the fresh-fruit character.

Here is some more info about Mr. Berhanu Kurse provided to us via Cafe Imports team:

“Mr. Berhanu Kurse lives in the village of Gotiti, in the Gedeo district of Ethiopia’s Southern Regional State. Gedeo is known for its high altitude and high-quality coffee production. Mr. Kurse owns 12 hectares of land, most of which is planted with coffee trees. His children, who also own smaller plots of land, help him manage the coffee farm. He inherited the land from his parents, and coffee production remains the family’s main source of income, covering basic needs as well as expenses such as education, healthcare, and transportation.”

Cafe Imports has been working hard to deliver Single Farmer traceable lots from Ethiopia for the last 14 years! This is something that we love to see & support, as it provides opportunities to access very small microlots from our favorite coffee growing country, as well as put the spotlight to the farmers who produce this awesome coffee.

Here is a short blurb about the Single Farmer Project, direct from Cafe Imports website:

“The Single Farmer Project is the result of an effort to support Ethiopian producers with a marketplace for farm-traceable coffees. Back in 2012, during a turbulent time in Ethiopia's coffee exporting history, Partner and CEO Jason Long worked with an established cooperative to export some of the first ever truly “Farm Traceable” lots from Ethiopia. This was the first time a roaster could highlight the individual farmer for their Ethiopian Coffee. It was the start of an incredible project and truly began the movement for traceability in Ethiopia as we see more often today. This project also gave us some very fun stories like literally bringing a backpack full of Ethiopian Birr to Yirgacheffe with COO Noah Namowicz to pay the premiums directly to these farmers who participated. 

This project is made possible in conjunction with important export partners supporting and bringing to market individual farmer lots. Samples are sent out to potential buyers, price is negotiated on the farmers' behalf, and contracts are only accepted when the producer agrees on a sales price and their name is on the contract for each coffee they sell. 

“Our goals with this project would be to help garner and develop long-term relationships between the producers we are already working with and coffee roasting companies that share in the values of transparency, traceability, and relationship that this program represents," says Claudia, green-coffee buyer for Cafe Imports.”

Import Partner: Cafe Imports Australia
All our coffees are sold as whole beans.