Ethiopia Arbegona

A blueberry sweetness that opens with real delicacy, a touch of lemon that brightens the cup, then a sweet finish with hints of honey. The body is light, the acidity fine, and everything is in balance: no bitterness, nothing overpowering. A natural of surprising cleanliness, one you could almost mistake for a washed coffee.

Ethiopia is back

It had been far too long since we had an Ethiopian coffee on the menu. For me, Ethiopia is a true favourite: along with Kenya and Burundi, it's where you'll find Africa's finest coffees. I was looking for a lot with blueberry notes, the ones that evoke the Ethiopian terroir we love so much. This one ticks every box of what, in my eyes, makes a great Ethiopian coffee.

Arbegona, high in Sidama

Arbegona is a district in central Sidama, in southern Ethiopia, next to Bensa. There are no large farms here: coffee grows on the small plots of producing families, at 2,000 metres above sea level. Each family delivers its cherries to a shared station run by Tracon, an Ethiopian family business, where the harvests of the whole community are sorted and dried together. So this coffee isn't the portrait of a single farm, but of an entire terroir.

The process

This lot is a natural: the cherries dry whole, with the bean still wrapped in its fruit. But in Ethiopia, this process is carried out with particular care. The cherries are first placed in water to remove those that float, which are less dense or damaged, then sorted by hand. They then dry in a thin layer on African beds, raised tables where air circulates above and below. Turned regularly and covered during the hottest hours, they dry slowly over several weeks, without the fermentation ever running away.

If you're used to South American naturals, expect a whole different experience. Many rely on long, intense fermentations: the fruit takes over, the cup turns winey, sometimes almost vinegary. Here, the sorting, the flotation and this slow, airy drying preserve the purity of the fruit. You keep the sweetness of a natural, with the clarity of a washed coffee.

In the cup

Lightly roasted to preserve all its delicacy, it shines brightest as a filter: a slow pour-over reveals its blueberry, lemon and honeyed sweetness. It also holds up very well as espresso, but this is a coffee of clarity rather than body. For a true side-by-side tasting, order it with the Bombe Anaerobic, our second Ethiopian coffee launching at the same time: two faces of the same origin. A coffee for lovers of African coffees, and for anyone curious to discover them.