Basha Bekele

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Basha Bekele

Huck's Award Tour series, celebrating award-winning coffee producers, circles back to where we started: Basha Bekele!
Tastes like
  • Strawberry
  • Watermelon Candy
  • Rose
  • Pink Lemonade
Region
Ethiopia
Producer
Basha Bekele and Outgrower Farmers
Size

As Phife Dawg said, "Top notch baby, never comin' less." Last year, Basha Bekele kicked off our Award Tour series, celebrating award-winning coffees and the people behind them. A year and a harvest later, we're back where we started, and this year's coffee might be even better. Bright, juicy, and bursting with strawberry, watermelon candy, rose, and pink lemonade. Two years after topping Ethiopia's Cup of Excellence, Basha's still got it. The champ returns!

–HUCK

We first fell for Basha's coffee in 2023, when his natural was a clear standout during a sourcing trip to Addis Ababa. The following year's harvest was just as delightful, and a few months after confirming our second year of coffee from Basha, he took the top spot in Ethiopia's 2024 Cup of Excellence. Pleasantly surprised, but not all that surprised. It's nice to pick a winner. This season, we tasted through several lots from Basha's processing sites, but kept coming back to this natural from Badegalo. It's everything we love about a top-tier natural, full of mouthwatering berry flavors, but with a level of florality and brightness we rarely find in naturally processed coffees. The whole cup feels expressive and alive, with a juicy sweetness, delicate floral character, and a refreshing, citrusy finish. Great stuff, and a pretty excellent reminder of why we started working with Basha in the first place.

Basha Bekele, Back for More

Basha Bekele farms in the Bombe area of Sidama, Ethiopia, a region that's become one of the country's most exciting destinations for exceptional coffee. With farms sitting at elevations higher than nearly anywhere else in the world, Sidama has developed a reputation for producing some of Ethiopia's very best coffees. Basha processes coffee from his own farm while also purchasing coffee cherries from neighboring producers. Over the past few years, he's expanded his operation to include several small processing sites throughout the area, including Badegalo, where this year's featured lot was processed. His dedication to exceptional coffee earned him the top spot at Ethiopia's 2024 Cup of Excellence, but we'd already been fans of his work well before the award. Now, several harvests into our relationship, Basha continues to produce coffees that floor us. Bringing the Award Tour back to where it all began feels pretty fitting.

Past Releases

Special release coffees in a league of their own

Limited, thoughtfully packaged, and roasted to highlight something truly exceptional. Stay up to date on new releases by adding your email.