Sidamo, Ethiopia — Where Coffee Began
Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. The Sidamo region, in the southern highlands, sits at the very heart of that story — a landscape of fertile soils, ancient forests and remarkable biodiversity that has produced exceptional coffee for centuries. Farms here sit between 1,900 and 2,100 metres above sea level, where high altitude and consistent rainfall create ideal conditions for slow cherry development and complex, layered flavours.
Taferi Kela has historically been overlooked within Sidamo — overshadowed by better-known sub-regions. Bette Buna, whose name translates as House of Coffee, has worked hard to change that. They create direct economic opportunities for farmers through coffee, train communities in sustainable growing practices and agroforestry, and have distributed over 350,000 climate-adapted seedlings from their in-house nursery to help secure long-term income for the families they work with.
The contributing smallholder farms harvest and process their cherries using a classic washed method — depulped, fermented for 24 to 36 hours, washed and dried on raised beds for up to 15 days. Once the ideal moisture content is reached, the coffee travels to Bette Buna's mill near Addis Ababa for export. The result is a clean, vibrant cup that reflects both the terroir of Sidamo and the careful hands behind it.
