Ethiopia – DAYE BENSA – KERAMO

The producers of Keramo live high in the beautiful Bombe mountains and have an out-grower relationship with our Ethiopian partner, Daye Bensa. The out-grower group consists of about 1,500 farmers in various parts of the mountain range, and these producers deliver their coffee to Daye Bensa’s Keramo Washing Station. The main varieties are JARC 74112 & cultivated local varieties.

Due to the staggering elevations of up to 2,300+ meters, the beans are very dense, with heavy concentrations of the smaller screen sizes (the majority is at 13-14). The Keramo is a fully washed lot – unlike the usual washed, this meticulous washing process ensures all the mucilage is completely removed – traditionally wet fermented for between 36 and 72 hours, and then dried on African beds for about 12 to 15 days, until the coffee reaches approximately 10% moisture. During peak sun, the beds are covered to prevent over drying. The Natural Keramo is dried on African beds, with clean plastic mesh and sheet for about 14 to 18 days. The cherries are locally hulled into unsorted natural beans, and transported to Addis for final sorting afterwards.

Sitting at its high elevation, Keramo site has awarded Daye Bensa with prestigious Cup of Excellence awards in 2020, 2021 and 2022. This has built a reputation in the region for producing some of the best coffees in all of Ethiopia.

Established in 1996 as producers, Daye Bensa has lived through all the turmoils that coffee growing and exporting entails in the region. Daye Bensa works with various communities of out-growers from whom they receive cherries and work with multiple washing stations in the Bensa, Sidama area, including some of which they own. In addition to Keramo, over the years, in both the US and Europe, we have worked with some of their other washing stations, notably: Shantawene, Hamasho, and Bombe.