Coffee Story
Daye Bensa has navigated the challenges of growing and exporting specialty coffee in the Bensa region since 1996. He is collaborating with various communities of out-growers who supply cherries to a network of esteemed washing stations in the Bensa area of Sidama.
One such facility is the Buncho Washing Station, a breathtaking location in the Shantawene kebele within the Bensa area of Sidama, Ethiopia. Managed by Asefa Dukamo Korma, the station sits at 1920 to 2020 MASL, high in the picturesque mountains of Sidama. It is dedicated to producing washed, honey, natural, and anaerobic processed coffees from the beautiful coffee cherry delivered by more than 800 regional smallholder farmers.
Upon arrival at the Buncho Station, this lot has been processed for honey. Fresh cherries are sorted in water to remove floaters, then de-pulped and laid out to dry with their mucilage on raised African beds. To ensure even drying, the parchment is regularly turned each day. Depending on the weather, the drying process takes between 12 and 15 days until the desired humidity is achieved.
