Ethiopia Plot Saffay Espresso

Plot Saffay is part of Bette Buna’s farm near the village of Megadu, in the Shakiso area of the Guji Zone, a remote, forested corner of southern Ethiopia. The farm is split into semi-forest and wild forest plots, where 74110 and 74112 grow alongside wild Guji coffee in the shade of native trees, and it is worked together with local community leaders on shared land.

Bette Buna, Amharic for “house of coffee”, was founded in 2020 by Dawit and Hester Syoum after they took over Dawit’s grandparents’ farm in Sidama. In Guji they pay a living wage and provide housing, meals and weekly transport to the remote farm, plus satellite schooling for workers’ children during the harvest.

This natural specialty coffee dries in whole cherry on raised beds, so the fruit’s sweetness carries into the beans and gives the espresso a round, syrupy body. Blueberry jam and apricot open the cup, black tea adds a gentle structure and brown sugar ties it all together. It is an easy, jammy espresso that is simple to dial in, tastes great on its own and also takes milk well, turning into a fruity, caramel-sweet flat white.