ETHIOPIA: BENSA

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Tastes like

Toasted Pralines

Cooked Peach

Milk Chocolate

Honeysuckle

Warm, sweet, and deeply roasted. Ethiopia at its most comforting.

Rich with toasted praline and cooked peach, smoothed out with milk chocolate and a floral finish. A washed Ethiopian that feels familiar and surprising at the same time.

Region

Bensa, Sidama

Country

Ethiopia

Farm

Qunqana

Variety

Heirloom Varietals

Altitude

1950–2500 m.a.s.l

Process

Washed

The coffee

Ethiopia's most celebrated region at its highest altitude. Bensa sits in the Sidama highlands, known for producing more top-grade coffee than anywhere else in Ethiopia. The Qunqana farm reaches up to 2500 metres, where cool temperatures and over 100 inches of annual rainfall slow the cherry down and concentrate the flavour. The result is a cup that is precise, sweet, and full of character.

Origin

Coffee was born here. Ethiopia is the only country where the coffee plant originated rather than being introduced. Growing, processing, and drinking coffee has been part of daily life for centuries. The genetic diversity here is extraordinary — there is more of it in Ethiopia alone than in the rest of the world combined. Sidama spreads across fertile highlands fed by rivers and lakes, with over 50 cooperatives and 200 washing stations serving the region.

Process

Washed for clarity and sweetness. The cherry is picked ripe and depulped the same day. After 8 to 12 hours of open-air fermentation, the coffee is washed clean in water channels and spread on raised beds to dry for 5 to 15 days. The process is clean and precise, which is why the praline, peach, and honeysuckle notes come through so clearly in the cup.

Brew it your way

Outstanding as cold brew. Try 100g of coffee to 700ml of filtered water at a finer grind than your usual cold brew setting.

This washed Ethiopian from the Bensa region of Sidama arrives via Sam James Coffee Bar, sourced from producer Qunqana at elevations between 1950–2500 meters. The combination of heirloom varietals and high-altitude washed processing typically yields balanced, nuanced profiles—here expressed through roasted sweetness (toasted pralines, milk chocolate) alongside delicate fruit and floral character (cooked peach, honeysuckle). This profile suggests the coffee preserves clarity while developing deeper caramel complexity, a hallmark of well-executed washed lots from this origin.