Ethiopia - Hamasho Village Washed

Daye Bensa Coffee is the 2022 2nd Place Winner of the Ethiopia Cup of Excellence.
Brothers Asefa and Mulugeta Dukamo started the company with one small office and a single washing station, and the vision to uplift the lives of coffee farming families in their hometown, Daye Bensa, Sidama. While the natural environment at altitudes exceeding 2000 masl was conducive to growing high-quality coffee, enabling infrastructure to process and market it did not exist.

Together with his brother Mulugeta Dukamo, he would find a way to overcome this obstacle by setting up wet and dry mills at strategic locations and, not long after, their own exporting company. Now they have 71 washing stations, 11 dry mills, and three farms, with work in progress to expand to neighboring areas Guji, Bale, and West Arsi.

Hundreds of smallholder farmers in the Bombe Mountains of Sidama Bensa comprise Hamasho Village, where the craft of coffee cultivation is built on generations of endurance and experience. Since they traditionally drink their own coffee, they have an instinct for what high quality tastes like. The name Hamasho is Sidamic for snake, a cultural symbol for strength that also holds spiritual significance.

With the efforts of Daye Bensa Coffee to enhance this knowledge, Hamasho Village farmers are able to maintain and even raise their crops’ quality and commercial viability. Every 50-100 partner farmers regularly receive information about healthy cultivation practices from a dedicated contact.

Daye Bensa Coffee is one of Ethiopia's Top 5 Coffee Exporters. They supply 7,500 tons annually to 25 countries. Unlike others, they produce their own coffee on this massive scale and operate a relationship-based model with farmers, buyers, and other producers, allowing them to directly influence and improve their coffee's quality.

With Kenean Dukamo, Asefa’s son and second generation leader, on-board Daye Bensa looks to build on their COE win by creating a division focused on "intentional coffees.” They are also looking at creative collaborations with outside sectors like the arts or winemaking.

‘Ethiopian heirloom’ is the general term commonly used to identify coffee originating from Ethiopia. It covers two classifications: Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC) varieties and regional landrace varieties. JARC varieties were developed and released to improve the productivity and livelihood of smallholder coffee farmers and boost the country's coffee industry.

They are promoted and bred because of their good quality when grown at the recommended elevations, resistance to or tolerance of adverse elements, and adaptability to diverse environments. There are 40+ JARC varieties comprised mostly of pure line selections and a handful of hybrids. Regional landraces, meanwhile, are varieties that propagate in the wild, without regulated interventions.

74158 is a JARC variety whose flavor potential we have grown familiar with in our years of working with Daye Bensa. The first Hamasho Village coffee we tasted and subsequently offered was a natural-processed 74158 variety that surprised us with notes resembling the Panama Geisha's — intense floral aromatics with fresh tropical and stone fruit qualities. In contrast, Hamasho Village Washed brings clean citrus and supple stone fruit notes in the cup, complemented by a clear, honey sweetness, while carrying the florality we have come to expect and love in our Hamasho Village coffees.