Shantawene Natural: From the Village Between Bombe Mountain and the Stars
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Shantawene Natural: From the Village Between Bombe Mountain and the Stars
Shantawene Natural comes from the Shantawene area of Bensa, Sidama — nestled between Bombe village and the striking Bombe Mountain at 2,019 metres. Daye Bensa's state-of-the-art Shantawene wet mill processes this lot for maximum fruit clarity.
At a Glance
Shantawene: A Village With Two Rainy Seasons and Exceptional Coffee
Shantawene village lies within the Bensa district of Sidama, positioned between the village of Bombe and the striking Bombe Mountain — a volcanic landmark that defines the visual landscape of this part of southern Ethiopia. The area belongs to the Shantawene Kebena community group, with local languages Sidaamu and Amharic spoken alongside each other. Smallholder farmers here, often called "garden farmers," grow coffee trees near their homes and harvest cherries from naturally occurring coffee plants — a practice that reflects Ethiopia's deep, pre-agricultural relationship with coffee as a forest crop that predates cultivation by centuries.
The Shantawene area experiences two rainy seasons — Belg (February–May) and Kiremt (June–September) — with annual rainfall between 47 and 78 inches. This bimodal rainfall pattern creates the consistent moisture conditions that coffee cherries need to mature slowly and accumulate sugars, while the periods of dry weather between seasons provide the drying windows that natural processing requires. The altitude of approximately 2,019 metres contributes further to slow cherry maturation and the dense, mineral-rich soils.
The Shantawene Wet Mill: Daye Bensa's 2019 Investment
Daye Bensa opened a state-of-the-art wet mill in Shantawene in 2019 — a significant infrastructure investment reflecting the brothers' (Asefa and Mulugeta Dukamo's) conviction that Shantawene's altitude and cherry quality merited dedicated processing infrastructure. The mill provides the 600 smallholder out-growers in the Shantawene community with direct access to premium processing, removing the previous bottleneck of delivering cherry to more distant stations. The facility processes both washed and natural lots, allowing side-by-side comparison of how Shantawene's heirloom varieties express across different process protocols.
Daye Bensa's overall infrastructure — now 71 washing stations, 11 dry mills, and three owned farms across Sidama, Guji, Bale, and West Arsi — reflects 28 years of systematic investment in quality processing infrastructure. The Shantawene mill is among the newest additions. Previous releases from the station have been hugely popular with specialty roasters for their "fruit-forward character and crisp mouthfeel," as Pirates of Coffee (Australia) noted in their Shantawene lot descriptions.
Roasters Carrying Shantawene / Daye Bensa Lots
Tasting Profile
Brew Guide
Filter
1:15–1:16
93–96°C · Berry and tropical lead
Espresso
1:2.5–1:3
Creamy fruit · outstanding in milk
Rest
10–21 days
Natural — full degassing for clean fruit
Iced filter
Japanese method
Blueberry and mango extraordinary cold
Shop Shantawene Natural at BrewFusion
Daye Bensa's 2019 wet mill. Shantawene village, 2,019 masl, Sidama. Blueberry, mango, honey. Shipped fresh worldwide.
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