Buku Abel #6, Ethiopia

Buku Abel is a washing station established in 2019 in the Guji zone of Ethiopia, positioned at elevations between 1,900 and 2,100 meters above sea level. Built on a gently sloping hill, the site benefits from excellent sun exposure, cool highland winds, and nutrient rich red soil, ideal conditions for cultivating high-quality coffee. Around 500 smallholder farmers from the surrounding area deliver their freshly harvested cherries to the station, typically arriving around midday and continuing careful hand-sorting until late afternoon. Farm plots are modest in size, ranging from 0,5 to 2 hectares, and are managed under semi-forest and garden style systems that preserve biodiversity and traditional farming practices.

The coffee is produced from Heirloom varieties, planted at a density of approximately 1,800 to 2,400 trees per hectare. Each tree yields an average of about 3 kilograms of cherries. This lot was processed using the natural method. Whole cherries were meticulously sorted and then dried slowly on African raised beds to enhance sweetness and aromatic complexity. Exported by Highland Coffee Development, founded in 2018 by brothers Ermias and Ephrem Eshetu, the coffee reflects deep respect for Ethiopia’s coffee heritage, rooted in the Southern and Southwestern Oromia regions where coffee is inseparable from daily life and culture.

This coffee belongs to the “Diima” flavour profile, part of a colour based flavour classification system developed to highlight Ethiopian coffee characteristics. “Diima,” meaning red in the Oromiffa language, signals a vibrant and expressive cup. Expect bold intensity, candy-like fruit sweetness, and fragrant violet florals, complemented by juicy tropical notes reminiscent of mango and banana. The result is a lively, aromatic, and fruit-forward coffee with a distinctly Ethiopian personality.