The release we've been waiting for, and it's finally here. But first a bit of back story...

Back in April '24, I was invited to taste some pre-shipment samples from Mecota Trading at the Omwani Coffee office in York. Upon cupping the coffees with Dave, James and Livi, one coffee on the table really stood out to me as head and shoulders above all of the others - all coffees were excellent, but this one was something else! 

I remember thinking internally "WOW, this is the best Ethiopian coffee I've had in a very long time!".

I asked the others whether they had facility to bring this particular coffee to the U.K., and that they would have a guaranteed purchase from me in the event that they do. They informed me that they were considering it, and so I placed an order there and then for 120kg (2 sacks). 

Later, around June time, I heard that (of the lot we purchased) the remainder of Basha's coffee had been entered into the Cup of Excellence and were going to be removed from the Omwani U.K. offer list - meaning that I had the only two sacks that were coming via Omwani to the U.K.

Later, to my amazement, I saw that the Cup of Excellence Ethiopia 2024 results had been announced, and Basha Bekele's coffee had been announced as the winner! 

It's important to note that while the coffee submitted to COE was drawn down from the same farm lot that we ended up purchasing from Basha Bekele, COE receives the coffee as parchment, NOT as green coffee. We receive the coffee as green, and so although the coffees come from the same source, they cannot be described as identical for this reason. 

Offering a coffee of this quality, with such a phenomenal pedigree is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us, and to make sure that everyone is able to share in this experience, we're making it available for a fraction of what we should charge, as we want as many people to be able to try this coffee as possible. 

About Basha Bekele

Basha Bekele, who recently celebrated his 30th birthday, is a farmer, washing station manager and father of four, working and producing exceptionally high quality coffees in Sidama, Ethiopia. Both Basha and his father used to sell their coffee cherry to cooperatives (this was before the Ethiopian Government made it possible for smallholders to obtain export licenses). Now he services a number of neighbouring farmers operating at around 2300 MASL - exceptionally high for Ethiopian coffee production!

This particular lot consists of 100% 74158.

74158 is commonly referred to as a JARC cultivar (JARC standing for Jimma Agricultural Research Centre). 74158 is the Catalogue number. All varieties that are denoted as 74xxx indicate that they were original landraces discovered in 1974 in the local forests. Certain varieties were generationally selected for their pronounced quality, disease resistance, yield, and a good deal other qualities that the agricultural institutions of the 70's were selecting for. Once selected for, the seed pools were propagated and sold.