Blue Moon - Zero Ferm. Washed Ethiopia from Safo Station

The Producer

Founded in Alo Bensa by Tamiru Tadesse, Alo Coffee played a pivotal role in shifting Ethiopia's specialty coffee landscape, as Sidama coffees went on to win every Cup of Excellence competition from 2020 to 2024. After winning the 2021 Cup of Excellence with a meticulously sorted natural coffee, Tamiru integrated global innovations into his operations—introducing Panamanian Green Tip Geisha, soil analysis, vermicomposting, and extended 60-plus-day dark-room drying. Today, he partners with roughly 800 local farmers—contracting directly with high-elevation growers up to 2,700 meters—to produce unique, highly specialized micro-lots.

The Process

At the Safo Station in Feficho Village, Tamiru uses a method rarely seen in high-elevation washed Ethiopian coffees. Once harvested and sorted, the cherries are processed through a machine that simultaneously depulps the fruit and removes the surrounding mucilage, entirely eliminating the traditional fermentation step. From there, the parchment coffee is slowly dried on raised African beds under moderate sunlight for 7 to 12 days.

The Coffee

The result is an exceptionally clean cup that delivers everything you want from a washed Ethiopian coffee. Hot, it opens with rich black tea and subtle citrus peel aromatics. As it cools, the cup sweetens into notes of crisp blueberry while maintaining the vibrant citrus and floral structure that shines clearly from the first sip to the last.