Ethiopia Bonga

Legend holds that, in the sixth century, a goat farmer named Kaldi observed his herd becoming particularly exuberant after eating the small red fruits from the previously unknown coffee bushes peppering the hillsides of Bonga, located in the Kaffa region of southwestern Ethiopia. This is the place from which all coffees of the species Coffea arabica are said to originate.

Kaffa is still notable today for its forestlands and rich biodiversity. The Bonga Forest Reserve, one of Ethiopia’s last remaining large subtropical moist forests, is abundant with wild coffee, cardamom, date palms, peppers, banana trees, and honeybees. The combination of local farming practices with the area’s high elevation and plenitude of shade allows the coffee there to develop more slowly, contributing to our roast’s dense and complex flavors.