Shantawene Natural | Single-Origin Ethiopian Coffee from Sidama
Pairs well with
Tangerine · Strawberry · Cane Sugar
A natural-process single origin off the Shantawene washing station in Sidama, southern Ethiopia — and one of the sweetest, fruitiest coffees we put on the shelf. If you have only ever had washed Ethiopians, this is the other half of the story.
Where it comes from
Shantawene sits between 2,000 and 2,200 metres near the base of the Bombe mountain. The station pays premiums for freshly picked, high-quality cherry, and the fruit comes from growers in the neighbouring villages of Shantawene and Bombe — close enough that it doesn't have far to travel and doesn't sit around before it is processed. That matters more for a natural than for almost any other process: once you leave the fruit on the bean, every hour between picking and the drying bed shows up in the cup.
How it's processed
Every delivery is graded on colour, ripeness and density, then floated to pull the underripes and the damage. What's left dries whole, cherry and all, on raised beds — turned consistently so it dries evenly rather than fermenting on one side — until it reaches its target moisture. Nothing is washed off. The fruit sugars migrate into the bean as it dries, which is where the strawberry and the cane-sugar sweetness come from.
Details
- Origin: Sidama, Ethiopia
- Washing station: Shantawene
- Altitude: 2,000–2,200 masl
- Varieties: 74-110, 74-165
- Process: Natural, dried whole on raised beds
- Grade: 2
- Roast: Light
- Cup: High acidity, above-average body, high sweetness
How we roast it
Light. A coffee grown this high with this much sugar in it doesn't need development to taste sweet — it needs to be left alone. We take it just far enough to set the acidity and stop, which keeps the tangerine bright instead of flattening it into generic “fruity.”
How to brew it
This is a pour-over coffee first. A V60 or a Chemex at a slightly coarser grind than you think, just off the boil, will give you the clearest version of it. It also makes a genuinely good iced coffee — the strawberry gets louder as it cools. We would not put it through an espresso machine.
New to light roasts and fruit-forward coffee? Start with roast levels explained, or read up on washed, natural and honey processing.
Roasted to order in Stuart, Florida. Whole bean, 12 oz (340 g).