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Introduction to Ethiopia's Renowned Coffee Regions | Flavor Profile of Alo Village Coffee with Floral Notes in Sidamo Bensa Area

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, For coffee enthusiasts, Ethiopia is a sacred destination. This country is the birthplace of coffee and currently Africa's largest producer of Arabica coffee. Ethiopia's terrain is dominated by mountainous plateaus, with most of the country consisting of the Ethiopian Highlands, which cover two-thirds of the nation. The Great Rift Valley runs through the entire country,

The Rising Star: Alo Village Coffee from Ethiopia

For many coffee enthusiasts, Ethiopia is undoubtedly a sacred destination in their hearts. This country is the birthplace of coffee and remains Africa's largest producer of Arabica beans today. When it comes to specialty coffee from this region, FrontStreet Coffee believes that fellow enthusiasts can easily name their favorites, such as Kochere, Gedeb Cooperative, Konga, Sidamo Guji, Gesha Village, and other renowned Ethiopian representatives. However, this year, a production area named Alo Village has gained immense popularity across the coffee community with remarkable momentum. What exactly makes this place so captivating?

Ethiopia's terrain features extremely high elevations, with vast highlands creating an excellent climate environment and significant day-night temperature variations. Morning clouds envelop the landscape, gentle winds breeze through the mountains, ample sunshine arrives in the afternoon, and nighttime temperatures drop to around ten degrees Celsius without frost - creating perfect conditions for coffee cultivation. Ethiopia has numerous coffee-producing regions, and with different soil types and microclimates, combined with variations in post-processing methods, coffee flavors differ significantly. In domestic coffee shops, the most frequently mentioned representatives are Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, and Guji - their unique aromas being passed down by word of mouth throughout the coffee community.

As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia has a long history of coffee cultivation and multiple coffee-producing regions, including Sidamo, Harrar, Kaffa, Limmu, Lekempti, Tepi, Bebeka, and Bale. Among these, Yirgacheffe, Guji, Sidamo, and Bebeka have gained the highest recognition in the market. However, in recent years, with the rise of Alo coffee from the Bensa region, numerous roasters both domestically and internationally have launched batches from this origin, gradually bringing Sidamo's Bensa region into the spotlight.

The Alo Coffee Success Story

According to reports, this production area gained prominence in the 2021 Cup of Excellence (COE) green bean competition. Among the 30 winning coffees that year, 16 came from the Sidamo region, with 6 specifically from the Bensa area. Notably, the 2021 Ethiopia COE champion was a 74165 variety from Alo Village, provided by Tamiru Tadesse Tesema, achieving an impressive score of 90.6. This breakthrough brought Alo Village and Alo Coffee's founder Tamiru into the spotlight.

Alo Coffee PLC is a green bean trading company operated by Tamiru Tadesse, established in 2020. It primarily focuses on exporting coffee from the Bensa region of Sidamo while also functioning as a green bean brand. As a native of Bensa, Tamiru grew up surrounded by coffee. He studied engineering during his university years and taught at a university for two years after graduation before dedicating himself to the specialty coffee industry. In 2020, after seeing friends from the same Bensa town win awards at COE, he recognized the enormous potential of specialty coffee produced in this region. However, due to small-scale operations and underdeveloped farmer conditions, these coffees struggled to reach commercial markets. He resolved to promote high-quality "Bensa flavors" to the world and thus established his own company, Alo Coffee.

Tamiru first obtained his Q-grader certification and then, leveraging his understanding of coffee cultivation and production conditions in his hometown Bensa, along with years of green bean export experience, he began systematically organizing the region's production, marketing, and quality control from scratch. He also analyzed the current challenges and opportunities facing Ethiopia's specialty coffee industry. In the same year he founded the brand, he established a green bean processing station in his hometown of Alo Village, creating a dedicated transportation system to collect and process coffee cherries from over 200 smallholder farmers in the surrounding area. He provided them with professional knowledge training and technical support while strictly controlling every detail of green bean processing to ensure traceability at each stage. Within just two years, Tamiru had successfully introduced Alo to numerous specialty coffee shops overseas.

The Alo Village Advantage

Returning to Alo Village itself, this is a small village located in the northeastern part of Sidamo, situated on the highest slope of Bensa Woreda. The Bensa region is renowned for its unique geographical advantages, with coffee growing elevations ranging from 1800 to 2300 meters. Compared to many classic Ethiopian representatives, many coffee trees in Bensa town grow at elevations between 2200-2350 meters, with the renowned Alo Village standing out among them, reaching an elevation of 2400 meters.

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned in previous articles, for specialty coffee, higher cultivation elevations result in slower growth rates of coffee cherries. The harvest time for mature cherries occurs later than in other regions, and the green beans therefore have higher density, forming more complex and intense aromatic structures. Additionally, due to high elevation, the drying time for coffee cherries also extends. The fermentation process after picking occurs at relatively low temperatures, which develops more abundant "floral and fruit aromas."

Currently, Alo Coffee Company's harvesting operations mainly focus on the Bensa area within the Sidamo region. When distinguished by village, besides the most well-known Alo Village, the market also features batches from Bombe Village, Murago Village, and Bashiro Gute (belonging to Bona Zuria town) among other villages.

Regarding processing station information, Tamiru has disclosed relevant details on the official website. Currently, Alo Coffee's green bean processing areas include eight stations: Main (primary processing station), Chilaka, Morke, Hatessa, Mewa, Hurro, Gute, and Chire Kalo. The main processing stations Main, Hatessa, and Chilaka are all located in Bensa, Morke is situated in Bura, Mewa and Hurro are in Nensebo, and Gute is in Bona Zuria. All processing stations are strategically located near coffee farms to facilitate faster post-processing work and ensure the freshness of coffee cherries.

Varieties and Processing

In terms of varieties, coffee produced by Alo primarily consists of the 74 series varieties from JARC (Jimma Agricultural Research Center), including 74158, 74165, 74112, and 74110, with 74158 being the most common in the market. The batch acquired by FrontStreet Coffee this time is also selected from the 74158 variety, processed and produced by Hatessa Processing Station under Alo Coffee (shown as "Hatesa" on Google Maps). This is a small village located 23 kilometers south of Alo Village, where fresh coffee cherries are processed using traditional natural methods.

Before the official natural processing, coffee farmers first manually harvest fully ripe coffee cherries, transport them to the Hatessa processing station, and conduct initial screening. Then, before washing, the cherries are classified again by observing skin color, removing overripe or underripe cherries to ensure uniform color before sun drying.

For naturally processed coffee, the farmers responsible for post-processing need to diligently turn the fruits on the drying beds during the first three days. During this period, coffee cherries have high moisture content, and if not turned promptly, they can easily grow mold and develop unpleasant sour or rotten fruit flavors due to uneven heating. Throughout the process, coffee cherries are spread in thin layers to ensure better ventilation and drying conditions. After 14-18 days, when the moisture content reaches the target level, they can be bagged and sent to the warehouse.

Through comparative observation, FrontStreet Coffee noted that green beans from the Hatessa natural processing batch tend to be smaller, with round and miniature appearances, sizing approximately 10-12 mesh. For this particular coffee, FrontStreet Coffee aims to highlight its mature fruit sweetness while preserving more of its floral aromas. FrontStreet Coffee chose a medium-light roast to present the elegant characteristics of this Alo coffee.

Cupping Notes and Flavor Profile

Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee first experienced the sweet floral and fruit aromas of this Alo coffee. The dry fragrance features distinct magnolia, pineapple, yellow peach, and small mango characteristics, accompanied by a pleasant fermented aroma that is truly delightful.

When slurping, the entry reveals rich tropical fruit sweetness and acidity, with prominent flavors of ripe pineapple, passion fruit, and perfumed lemon, accompanied by subtle black tea notes. The gentle fermentation combined with light floral aromas makes one irresistibly reach for a second sip. As the temperature slightly decreases, the coffee tends toward stone fruit characteristics like yellow peach and dried apricot, with clear, bright fruit acidity that maintains complexity - truly exceptional.

FrontStreet Coffee: Ethiopia Sidamo Alo Hatessa Natural Coffee Beans
Country: Ethiopia
Region: Sidamo · Bensa Alo Hatessa
Elevation: 2180-2280 meters
Variety: 74158
Grade: G1
Processing: Natural Method
Flavor: Magnolia, Passion Fruit, Pineapple, Mango, Fermented Notes

Brewing Recommendations from FrontStreet Coffee

Light-roasted coffee beans have relatively harder density and don't easily release flavor compounds when hot water is introduced. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee uses high-temperature water at 92°C-93°C to stimulate the floral aromas and fruit acidity in the coffee. For this Alo coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends a medium-fine grind size (78% pass-through rate on a Chinese standard #20 sieve). The EK-43 grinder setting used in FrontStreet Coffee stores is 10, which visually corresponds to approximately fine sugar granularity. In terms of brewing ratio, FrontStreet Coffee finds that 1:15 to 1:16 both work well. If you prefer a richer taste, use 1:15; if you want to more clearly perceive the floral sweetness, use 1:16 to allow the flavors to disperse more.

Brewing Parameters:
Dripper: V60
Water Temperature: 92-93°C
Dose: 15g
Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Fine sugar texture (78% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve)
Pouring Method: Three-stage pour

Three-stage pouring method: Use twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds to wet the coffee bed, forming a dome for a 30-second bloom. Then, using a gentle water stream, pour in a circular motion from inside to out until reaching 125g. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the height of the dripper, then continue with the same fine water stream to pour the third stage to 225g. Remove the dripper once all the coffee liquid has filtered through, with a total time of approximately 2 minutes.