Alo Coffee’s 1st place win at the 2021 Ethiopia Cup of Excellence enlarged opportunities for Bensa smallholder coffee growers to prosper.

Six years working in coffee, Sidama Bensa-born Tamiru Tadesse saw the great disconnect between the exceptional flavors and high cup quality potential of his hometown's coffees and the way these were being undervalued across the market. It was also too clear to him how this put the smallholder coffee-growing families and the country's coffee industry at a huge disadvantage. 

A friend of Tamiru winning the 2020 Ethiopia Cup of Excellence inspired him to personally contribute to a solution by starting his company, Alo Coffee. Through Alo Coffee, he is able to provide the means for smallholders to process their laboriously cultivated, inherently organic, and flavor-rich coffee cherries into distinctive lots of the highest quality, and then match them with the specialty coffee communities that recognize their value and properly reward it.

Our direct relationship with Tamiru started with two 90+ lots from Alo Village in our Competition Series last year. Now in our 2nd year of partnership, we're utterly thrilled and thankful that he's entrusted us with a much larger selection to share with you, including two in our Microlot Selection and three Exclusive Archers Lots in our Competition Series. Each one underscores the celebrated qualities unique to the Sidama Bensa terroir while highlighting enhanced sensory nuances created through deliberate processing techniques.

Cups of Alo Coffee taste like the sweetest rewards as they're hard-earned and mark achievements toward a greater good. Take the time to enjoy your own small and big wins with your choice from our Microlots and Competition Series. Check them out here or head to our roastery in Sharjah to shop our retail shelves soon!

Archers Lots culminate our co-founders’ creativity and technical acumen to compose truly artisanal specialty coffee experiences for both the discerning and adventurous specialty coffee connoisseurs, in collaboration with our closest producing partners.

Natural Anaerobic, Alo Village

In this Archers-curated 48-hour natural anaerobic process, Alo Village smallholder farmers brought the perfectly ripe, hand-harvested cherries to the Alo Washing Station, where they were screened at the door and then sorted again to ensure uniformity of the ripeness level (visually indicated by color) before being pre-cleaned and placed in 50-60 KG plastic barrels and then sealed with lids having a one-way valve — to aid in maintaining an oxygen-free fermentation phase throughout the pre-determined 48-hour period. 

After this, the barrels were emptied onto the raised beds, as the whole cherries were evenly spread out in very thin layers, allowing the fermentation juices to sufficiently drain from them. The specific instruction to maintain very thinly layered cherries throughout the sun-drying phase was deliberate, to avoid extraneous microbial activity as the coffees had already undergone the necessary fermentation in the barrels prior. The target moisture level was achieved after 18 to 21 days.

As a result of this process, this cup expresses intricate multilayered acidities and subtle floral undertones, balanced by the refreshing and clean sweetness of sugarcane, accompanied by a silky mouthfeel.

Anaerobic Honey, Alo Village

In this Archers-curated 120-hour anaerobic honey process, Alo Village smallholder farmers brought the perfectly ripe, hand-harvested to the Alo Washing Station, where they were screened at the door and then sorted again to ensure uniformity of the ripeness level (visually indicated by color) before being pre-cleaned and then placed in 50-60 KG plastic barrels. This was done to aid in maintaining an oxygen-free fermentation phase throughout the pre-determined 120-hour period, after which the cherries were de-pulped.

Following that, the barrels were emptied onto the raised beds, as the de-pulped cherries spread out in very thin layers, allowing the fermentation juices to sufficiently drain from them. The specific instruction to maintain very thinly layered cherries throughout the sun-drying phase was deliberate, to avoid extraneous microbial activity as the coffees had already undergone the necessary fermentation in the barrels prior. The target moisture level was achieved after 14 to 18 days.  

As a result of this process, this cup expresses intense floral and citrus aromatics complementing its sweet succulence, harmonized by a smooth and crisp tea-like character.

Anaerobic Washed, Alo Village

In this Archers-curated 120-hour anaerobic washed process followed a similar protocol to the exclusive honey-processed lot, with an added de-mucilaging step. 

To start, Alo Village smallholder farmers brought the perfectly ripe, hand-harvested to the Alo Washing Station, where they were screened at the door and then sorted again to ensure uniformity of the ripeness level (visually indicated by color) before being pre-cleaned and then placed in 50-60 KG plastic barrels. This was done to aid in maintaining an oxygen-free fermentation phase throughout the pre-determined 120-hour period, after which the cherries were de-pulped and fully de-mucilaged.

Following that, the barrels were emptied onto the raised beds, as the coffee beans were spread out in very thin layers. The specific instruction to maintain very thin layers throughout the sun-drying phase was deliberate, to avoid extraneous microbial activity as the coffees had already undergone the necessary fermentation in the barrels prior. The target moisture level was achieved after 12 to 15 days.  

As a result of this process, this cup expresses a crystalline, complex character with discrete layers of heightened floral and fresh aromatics alongside subtle yet crisp acidity interlaced with juicy, stonefruit sweetness.