Bona Zuria washing station is located in Bona Zuria village where the towering altitudes of 2,000 to 2,330 meters above sea level make the ideal conditions for coffee cultivation. This altitude used to be too high for coffee cultivation but recent changes in temperature from climate change has made it possible to grow coffee here.

Demeka Becha site is situated at the top of a hill, which is ideal for air flow along the drying beds. You enter through tin gates which open onto lush green grass. Demeka Becha site buys cherries from nearby communities including Dilla Suke, Demeka, Goacho, Becha, and Bashiro Dale—close to 10,000 producers are situated in the areas surrounding the washing station. Producers bring their cherries to be weighed on the blue scale, logged in the book by Cashier and General Manager, Alemu Gobaro, and floated before being dumped into the cement hopper to begin the journey through the 4-disk Agard pulper and into fermentation tanks and cement washing channels.

There are 10 tanks for density grades 1 and 2, and 2 tanks for lower density coffee destined for our Community Lot program if it meets our standard, or for the local market. Following fermentation and washing, the parchment coffee is carried by hand to the drying beds where laborers spread it out to the depth of a fingertip and keep it turning until it is dried and moved to the locked storehouse to await trucking to Addis Ababa and final processing.

The Bensa zone in Sidamo has been making the quality headlines the past few years. Bona is located in that same highland as the well known Bombe region. Coffees from the Bona Zuria district stand out for their brightness and intensity. They have a unique flavor profile that can hold its own against the famed locations in Yirgacheffe.  One theory to explain this quality status states that coffee cultivation in these highland regions took off only recently, with plantations dating back 10 years.The coffee trees are in their prime now and producing good yields with high quality coffee.

The general picture for these broader regions shows harvest and quality following strong on and off cycles because of lacking agricultural practices. These younger plantations in the Bona area help bring back the glorious bright and floral cup quality that Ethiopia is so often associated with.

Many would say that the strength of Sidamo coffees lies in the regions’ diversity of profiles. The many microclimates and varying soil types lead to striking differences from town to town. But across all Sidamo coffees is a profound complexity that many attribute to the diversity of local landrace varieties. Varieties can differ from town to town and even farm to farm where each farmer may have more than one unique variety seldom or never found outside their plot.

Here's where we recommend starting:

• Rest time: 3+ weeks after roast
• Filter: 1:16-17, 94°C
  
• Espresso: 1:2.5-2.7, 26-30s