Kabira - a natural filter coffee from Ethiopia

Unfortunately, this coffee is sold out, but we plan to have it back with the next harvest.

Kabira is a charming coffee. Perhaps a bit of a dandy – always elegant, never excessive, but extremely style-conscious. Kabira is one reason why we love coffees from Ethiopia. We smell tropical fruits and persimmon, taste white tea and milk chocolate alongside them, and perceive a delicate acidity. The coffee is elegant and tea-like.

Kabira - Raw coffee info

Roasted for: all common filter methods & cold brew

Origin: Ethiopia, Jimma, Agaro

Producer: Mustafa Abba Keno, 2040 m.a.s.l.

Varieties: 74110, 74112 & other local, unspecified varieties

Post-harvest process: Natural, dry processed

All our coffees are sold as whole beans.

Tell me more about Mustafa Abba Keno

Kabira wasn't on our schedule. But now we are glad it's here. Our actual filter coffee from Ethiopia spent so long sitting in a container under the Saudi sun that, unfortunately, the quality suffered. Just as we were brooding over the disappointing shipment, Bara from Falcon Coffee got in touch. She mentioned she might have something – a coffee from Mustafa Abba Keno, a producer Falcon has been working with since 2018. Falcon Coffee has a team in Ethiopia, and they met Mustafa because he holds one of the coveted export licenses. This has allowed him to sell coffee directly to exporters – like Falcon – since 2018. Falcon has been working intensively with Mustafa since 2019, investing in infrastructure, providing agronomic know-how, and working together on projects to include neighboring producers. Mustafa now has two wet mills – Beshasha and Kabira. Kabira has more space for drying beds, which is why he processes his naturals there.

Why does the coffee taste the way it does?

Unfortunately, we don't know exactly yet – so far we haven't had direct contact with Mustafa, but have communicated through his coffees. What's interesting is this: Mustafa produces washed and honey-processed coffees, as well as naturals. Without knowing that, this info made sense after our blind tasting. Many naturals from the Jimma zone that we had tasted previously were very rich, lush in aroma, and very intense. Mustafa's coffee is significantly more elegant. He lets the coffee dry in the fruit pulp for nearly 30 days, which is a very long time. At the beginning, he uses thinner layers of cherries on the drying beds, thereby reducing the intensity of the fermentation. You can smell and taste that: the coffees are elegant, crystal clear, and sometimes reminiscent of washed coffees.

How do we roast this coffee?

We roast the coffee as a 15kg batch on our 30kg Giesen roaster. We roast the coffee very short to emphasize the elegant, fruity aromas. With a roast time of 8:08 and a development time of 47 seconds (9.6%), the coffee definitely belongs to our light, tea-like roasts. Shortly before the first crack, we turn the gas off completely. Naturals tend to release a lot of energy shortly before, and especially during, the first crack, almost roasting themselves. So, we remove energy from the drum and let the coffee finish roasting itself.