Award Tour: Ethiopia Basha Bekele Natural

About this coffee

As Phife Dog said, "Top notch baby, never comin' less." Last year, Basha Bekele was the first stop on our Award Tour series, highlighting award-winning coffees and coffee producers. A year and a harvest later, we’re going back to where we started, and this season’s coffee from Basha might be even better than the last! We first fell for Basha's coffee in 2023, his natural a clear standout on a trip to Addis Adaba that winter. The next year's harvest? Also delightful. Then, a few months after we confirmed our second year of coffee from Basha, the 2024 Cup of Excellence winners were announced. We were pleasantly surprised, but not too surprised, to see Basha on the very top of the list! It's nice to pick a winner. Basha farms in the Bombe area of Sidama, Ethiopia, an area that's become the new go-to zone for the country's best coffees, with higher farms than nearly anywhere else in the world. Basha processes his own coffee, but also purchases coffee cherry from his neighbors, and over the past few years, has expanded his operation to several small processing sites in the area. This year we tasted through several lots from Basha’s sites, but were particularly fond of this natural from his Badegalo site. This coffee brims with the mouthwatering berry flavors we love in a top-tier natural, but with a florality and brightness we rarely find in the natural process. The whole cup feels bright, expressive, and alive, with notes of strawberry, watermelon candy, rose, and pink lemonade. Great stuff. Two years out from his big win, Basha’s coffee continues to floor us, and we’re excited to bring the Award Tour series full circle, back to the champ! *** For roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. *** Pictured: Basha Bekele, courtesy Falcon Specialty Coffee

Coffee details reported by Huckleberry Roasters.