This release marks our fourth consecutive season purchasing from Biranu Dulo’s farm in the Tima sub-kebele of the Guji zone. It’s processed and exported by our partner, Ture Waji, and his rapidly growing company, Sookoo Coffee.
You’ve likely heard us mention Ture many times before, as he’s who we now purchase the bulk of our natural processed Ethiopian coffees from - like Daannisa, Bookkisa, and Biranu Dulo from previous years. We’ve been consistently impressed with every coffee we’ve tasted from Sookoo, and we’re thrilled to continue diving deeper and strengthening our relationship with each passing year. They specialize in only natural processed coffees at the moment, working with five groups of farmers within the Odo Shakiso woreda of the Guji Zone. Sookoo focuses on working with small groups and providing education for the farmers - teaching proper farm maintenance, best picking practices, etc.
This is the fourth season that Ture has kept coffees separate from growers with larger than average farms. Biranu Dulo owns 4.5 hectares of land, which is roughly double the average in Guji, and he can produce around 50 60kg bags of green coffee per year. Currently, we’re purchasing around half of his total volume. We established a premium price to Ture that allowed him to cover his higher cherry pricing to Biranu and also give a second payment later in the season. Full transparency in the Ethiopian coffee supply chain has historically been quite complicated. Due to complex regulations on the commodities market, coffee from a single farm would have been impossible to purchase just five years ago. This is why our past Ethiopian offerings have been named after the washing station itself and consisted of hundreds of smallholder farmers’ coffee. Long story short, recent policy changes have now made this possible!
As we’ve come to expect, this natural processed lot from Biranu Dulo is incredibly clean, complex, and fruit-forward. The acidity is juicy and mouth-watering, like pineapple and raspberries. The saturated fruit flavors and honey-like sweetness produce a very elegant, silky body. Layers of milk chocolate and vanilla round out the experience to keep the coffee beautifully balanced. Biranu Dulo is everything we love about natural processed coffees, like explosive fruit flavors that make you re-imagine what coffee can be, but presented in a sparkling, refined package. Seriously, this one is so good we put it all over the menu! Check out how it pairs with other coffees in both the Winter Solstice and Koko Buni blends. We’re tasting: strawberry, blueberry, cherry, red grape, orange blossom, lavender, lemon icing, honey, white sugar, vanilla, poptart, danish, sweet tea, milk chocolate.
1000 Faces Coffee is a coffee roaster, merchant of change, and voyager of the agrarian spirit. We travel to countries of origin and establish relationships with producers to ensure the integrity of our coffee. Since we opened our doors on day one, we have been working in partnership with the two most important ends of the 1000 Faces spectrum: the grower and the customer. It is this partnership that is at the foundation for real economic sustainability for not just us, but all parties involved. We believe that respect for geographic origin, direct relationships, and ecological awareness is the basis for creating a more sustainable coffee culture. Building on these principles, from seed to cup, 1000 Faces has set out to help you buy fresh roasted coffee beans of unsurpassed integrity and quality.
