Ethiopia Lala Salama Decaf Espresso

"More than just a coffee farm - a true 'House of Coffee' dedicated to rebuilding an overlooked community."

​When Grandfather Syoum and Grandmother Emame passed the torch to Dawit and Hester, the mandate was clear: they weren't just inheriting a farm, they were taking responsibility for the entire village of Taferi Kela. Despite sharing a mountain range with some of Sidamo's most famous producers, this specific community had long been ignored.

​Today, Bette Buna (literally "House of Coffee") is transforming the region. In an area where the average family of nine survives on less than $50 a month, Bette Buna distributes over 350,000 climate-adapted coffee seedlings annually. This initiative alone injects over $650,000 into the local economy every year. Furthermore, they are a deeply inclusive employer, providing meaningful, accommodating work to single mothers, disabled individuals, and the deaf community.

​Every single lot is mapped down to the individual picker, ensuring fair wages and unheard-of transparency in Ethiopia. This rigorous tracking also makes their coffees exceptionally consistent and fully EUDR compliant.

​The Sugar Cane EA Decaffeination

To preserve the complex, sweet character of the Taferi Kela harvest, Bette Buna partnered with Coffein Compagnie to carefully extract the caffeine using the targeted, gentle Ethyl Acetate (EA) method:

• ​Steam Activation: The green coffee beans are first treated with gentle steam. This removes the silver skin, increases internal moisture, and perfectly opens up the cellular structure of the bean.
• ​Targeted Extraction: A solution of water and Ethyl Acetate—a naturally occurring compound found in sugar cane, bananas, and strawberries—is introduced. The EA binds specifically to the caffeine molecules, selectively drawing them out of the bean while leaving the delicate flavor compounds untouched.
• ​Cleansing & Drying: The beans are steamed a second time to safely evaporate any remaining traces of the EA solution, then carefully dried back to their initial moisture content.

​The result is a brilliantly clean, decaffeinated cup that refuses to compromise on flavor, showcasing rich dark chocolate, sweet apricot jam, and candied orange.