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Scenery Coffee

Ethiopia - Bekele Belacho [24/25]

Ethiopia - Bekele Belacho [24/25]

Our second year purchasing from Bekele Belacho (also written as Belaycho or Belaychow - a quirk that there's no direct English transliteration from Amharic/the local Ethiopian languages), a third-generation farmer who operates drying stations across the Kokose and Bombe villages in Sidama. Bekele was among the first producers in his area to obtain direct export licensing in 2019, transitioning from cooperative sales to managing his own processing and export operation, and has swiftly shot to international fame for the quality of his coffee. We're stoked to bring it back for a second season

£15.00
£15.00
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Size
We've made an update to our "Roast Style" section on the labels to better differentiate Light & Lightest roasts. For the next two weeks, there may be some crossover in the old & new designs
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Brew Guide:

Best Brewed with: Filter

Lightest Influence: We're roasting this preetty light - it's definitely a coffee to rest, but once it's had a bit of time to open up it's a delicate, floral berry bomb.

Best Rested: 3-4 weeks (atleast)

Filter: 64g/L, 96°C when fresh but when well rested you can go down to 92-93°C

Espresso: 18g/45g/28-32s. Can also work as a turbo/soup

We’re tasting: Intense floral and berry aromas - raspberry & honeysuckle. In the cup it's like eating a spoonful of blueberry jam, supported by fresh vanilla, lemon zest, buttery brioche, white raspberry, and pomegranate juice. As it cools the blueberry jamminess becomes more intense, with some hints cardamon & lavender

Traceability

Country of Origin:
 Ethiopia
Region:
 Kokose village, Bensa woreda, Sidama
Producer:
 Bekele Belacho (aka Belaychow/Belaycho) alongside local outgrowers
Station:
 Bekele's Kokose station.
Variety:
 Primarily JARC 74158
Elevation:
 2250 MASL
Process:

Traditional Natural:

Ripe cherries picked, floated and sorted.
Dried on raised beds with temperature/shade control and continual hand sorting over 15-20 days
Import Partner:
 Omwani via Mecota Trading
Harvest
 Crop 24/25 - Arrived UK: 06/08/25. Second harvest pushing from Bekele

 

The Story

When Ethiopia passed legislation in 2017 allowing smallholders with two hectares or more to obtain export licenses, it created a watershed moment for producers like Bekele Belacho. Rather than being limited to selling cherry to local cooperatives, forward-thinking farmers could now process and export their own coffee, capturing more value from their production.

Bekele has emerged as a de facto leader among Bensa's independent smallholder-exporters. Operating two drying stations in Bombe and Kokose, he not only processes coffee from his own farm but also works with over 100 neighbouring smallholders, creating a vital link to specialty markets for his community. His son Beleteno, a recent Hawassa University economics graduate, manages operations at their Hora Ganet farm (meaning "Spring Paradise"), making this a multi-generational family operation.

Working with Mecota Trading has been key to making lots like this possible. Founded in 2023 by Moata Raya - who spent 15 years at TechnoServe developing infrastructure for Ethiopian producers, Mecota focuses on creating transparent, traceable routes to market for quality-focused smallholders.

We've always been fans of smaller area separations from Ethiopia - while the larger blended lots from washing stations can show incredibly complex profiles, they're equally made up of diverse excellent smaller lots and pickings that might get washed out in the blend. Bekele's coffees are consistently excellent, and it's a pleasure to showcase single producer (and single variety lots) that have such excellent taste of provenance. We think this lot has all archetypal flavours of an Ethiopian natural, expressed elegantly. A banger to be sure.


Credit for additional farm & producer photography: Omwani

Resting: If you can bear to wait, coffee stored in the bag (un-opened) for this period will improve immensely as it releases CO₂ created during the roasting process, and will be at peak flavour for several weeks following the "Best Rested for" indication.
You are of course welcome to open your coffee earlier and it should still be tasty!

Once opened, consume within 2 weeks 

We suggest that all of our coffees are best enjoyed within 3 months from the day it was roasted and indicate the "roasted on" date & "best before" date on the rear of the bag.