Bekele is a dedicated producer with a strong focus on quality. His farm in Murago, situated at an elevation of 2,350 meters, earned 15th place in the 2022 Cup of Excellence competition. A father of 11, Bekele has involved his eldest son, Belaye, in managing the drying station at Murago. Together, they produce both natural and anaerobic natural coffees.

We visited Murago during our 2024 Ethiopian sourcing trip and were treated to traditionally roasted and brewed coffee from a fresh harvest.

That super fresh coffee which stayed on the African bed until two weeks ago, hand-roasted in a pan over an open flame, then ground on a dozens-years-old machine, drenched with boiling water in a clay pot tasted so much better than majority of meticulously prepared, TDS-checked brews in a typical third-wave cafe back in Europe. Insanely bright, complex, sweet, floral and fruity!

Both lots from Bekele are one of the best Ethiopian coffees we’ve tasted in years. The anaerobic went through 48 hours of oxygen-free fermentation and was dried under shade for 30 days while the natural was dried for 22 days. Both, naturally, on raised beds!