Gatta Farm: From Natural Forest to Specialty Coffee

Gatta Farm has one of the most distinctive origin stories in Daye Bensa's 71-station network. The site was a natural forest until Daye Bensa co-founder Mulugeta Dukamo discovered it while managing the construction of the nearby Gafisse Station. Recognising the extraordinary altitude (2,200 metres), rich forest soils, and natural shade canopy as ideal conditions for high-quality coffee cultivation, Dukamo arranged for the first coffee trees to be planted in 2013. Four years later, in 2017, a dedicated drying station was established on the property — along with a lodge and a training facility that operates during harvest season to accommodate employees and provide agronomy education to local residents.

The farm's surrounding vegetation — the native forest that predated coffee cultivation — remains as natural shade for both the plantation and the drying station. The forest canopy regulates temperature, retains moisture, and supports the soil microbiome that contributes complexity to the cherries grown beneath it. Plantation, harvesting, and processing work is done primarily by local residents from the surrounding community, with women specifically assigned to quality control and processing roles, receiving proper wages — a deliberate social investment that Daye Bensa builds into all its operations.

DAK's 5th Anniversary: A Special Lot Deserves a Special Process

DAK Coffee Roasters — the Amsterdam roastery founded in 2019 by Louis-Philippe Boucher and Veronique Lagarde (see Blog #1 for the full DAK story) — selected the Gatta Farm lot for their 5th anniversary release because of its unique origin and the exceptional result of the yeast fermentation experiment. A DAK partner and colleague travelled to Ethiopia for the second consecutive year specifically to experiment with yeast-assisted fermentation at the Gatta Farm site. The 2024 result — the Rumba lot — was, in DAK's own assessment, "more beautiful and cleaner than last year, with a silky and super fruity body."

The process is a semi-anaerobic natural with yeast inoculation: cherries are placed in partially sealed fermentation vessels (semi-anaerobic, not fully sealed) with a selected yeast culture that shapes the fermentation chemistry toward the jammy, fruit-forward profile that the tasting notes describe. After fermentation, the whole cherries dry naturally on the Gatta Farm's dedicated drying beds, preserving the yeast-developed aromatic compounds within the bean's structure.

"Our 5th year roasting anniversary coffee — the result is beautiful and cleaner than last year, super fruity with a silky body." — DAK Coffee Roasters

The Rumba Profile: Why the Name Fits

Rumba — the Latin dance form known for its rhythmic sensuality and warm, flowing character — is an apt name for a cup that delivers exactly that energy. Where Jazz Fruits / Iron Lion (Blog #64) is straightforward fruit punch and Strawberry Kiss (Blog #65) is vivid natural strawberry intensity, Rumba is more layered and jammy: the strawberries are stewed and warm rather than fresh, the apricot is ripe and honeyed, and the brown sugar sweetness gives the whole cup a warmth and roundness that lingers well after the last sip. It is a coffee with presence and character — appropriately celebratory for a 5th anniversary release.

Brew Guide