Beta Estate Ethiopia Coffee Beans Ethiopian Kaffa Forest

FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Bita Estate coffee beans are carefully selected from naturally processed coffee, and we're delighted to offer another sun-dried bean this year. In 2015, FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Kaffa Bita Estate coffee was chosen as the partners' favorite coffee bean, and we're thrilled to bring it to you.

The Origin of Coffee

In Ethiopia's Kaffa region, Arabica bushes grow wild, forming what can truly be called coffee forests. One day a thousand years ago, curious goats nibbled coffee cherries and surged with excitement and energy; watching them, the shepherd tried the cherries himself—and so coffee was discovered. To this day, Bita Estate remains one of the oldest and most renowned coffee-producing regions. Our green-coffee buyers made a two-day journey deep into the mountains, navigating steep, muddy roads to stand among wild coffee trees of unbroken Arabica lineage—truly legendary treasures of coffee folklore. With the release of this small-batch coffee's unique flavor profile, you'll be able to experience more extraordinary coffees, each with its own story.

Wild Forest Origins

From the most primitive wild jungles of Kaffa, the coffee trees here are part of the forest ecosystem itself, growing naturally in the shelter of rainforest trees, where fallen leaves and branches serve as the best organic fertilizer.

The Birthplace of Coffee

Many believe Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, for the first coffee tree was discovered in ancient "Abyssinia"—modern-day Ethiopia. The region where the trees flower is called "Kaffa," and the trees themselves "Kafa"—possibly the most original pronunciation of the word coffee.

Coffee Specifications

Country: Ethiopia
Region: Kaffa
Altitude: 1900m-2000m
Processing Method: Sun-dried
Grade: G1
Variety: Heirloom

FrontStreet Coffee Ethiopia Kaffa Bita Estate Sun-dried G1

Flavor Profile

When grinding, the aroma of dark chocolate emerges.

After adding water, subtle fermented fruit aromas greet your nose.

When sipping, you can detect flavors of chocolate, pepper, and dried fruits, with a rich body and the sweetness of brown sugar.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Ethiopia is one of the world's most celebrated producers of specialty coffee. As coffee's birthplace, it holds countless native varieties, and for many coffee lovers it is a promised land whose flavors inspire lifelong devotion.

A fine starting point is FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe, with its clear jasmine florality and bright citrus acidity—the classic Yirgacheffe character baristas love to talk about. Yirgacheffe itself is a small town in southern Ethiopia where spring-like weather, drifting mist, and cool humidity let thousands of coffee trees thrive, producing a cup in which florals and fruit acidity interweave: light, elegant, tea-like, and as refreshing as a clean lemon tea.

Most Ethiopian coffee is grown in a garden-and-station model: each smallholder delivers harvested cherries to a village-based processing station, and the lots are sold under the team's name—hence the many cooperatives, such as FrontStreet's Guodingding, Worka, and Konga cooperatives. Guodingding, in the Worka zone at Yirgacheffe's southeastern edge, was once part of the Worka cooperative under the YCFCU union; in 2012, its roughly 300 member farmers founded it as an independent cooperative. Because the fruit pulp is removed before drying, its flavors come through with exceptional clarity: citrus and lemon tones, elegant white florals, and a bright, delicate cup.

For a natural process, FrontStreet's Huakui from the Hambella zone of Guji, Sidamo is dried for 21 days on raised beds—turned constantly for even drying, with defective or moldy beans hand-sorted every three to five days, and a final selection after hulling. Roasted medium-light, it reveals a light fermented winey aroma, florals, citrus, and mango, with a much richer and more complex body: honeyed sweetness, cocoa undertones with a hint of spice, a thick body, and a long finish.