Bogalech Muda

This is a minimal intervention natural coffee from Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia, produced by Bogalech Muda on her 12-hectare farm. It is certified organic.  This is the very first time Bogalech’s coffee has been exported under her own name. After decades of growing coffee and selling to a large local coop, Bogalech Muda has begun working with Konga Trading PLC, a small but highly specialized exporter based in central Yirgacheffe and founded, fittingly, by the former executive director of the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union. So, despite being a debut coffee, there is a lot of experience behind it.  

Larger plots like Bogalech’s allow for greater personal control, and volumes large enough to be viable for exportation on their own. Bogalech’s farm is 12 hectares in size, enormous compared to the average 1 hectare or less belonging to most coffee producers in Gedeb.    

Bogalech employs 6 pickers each harvest for cherry collection. Cherry is delivered throughout the day during harvest, where it is inspected and sorted for acceptability based on ripeness and uniformity. Once received, cherries are moved directly to the drying tables where they spread in a single layer to dry in the sun. The full drying process normally takes 3 weeks.   

Once cherries have been thoroughly dried and rested, the dried fruit is hulled from the coffee seed locally, and then transferred to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. In Addis the coffee is dry-milled by Konga Trading PLC, using modern color sorting equipment and a fleet of trained workers who repeatedly hand-sort the coffee for export.   

Takele Mammo, the founder of Konga Trading, was for many years the manager of Ethiopia’s Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU), one of Ethiopia’s highest quality exporters and supply chains for Fairtrade and Organic certified coffee. During his time with the union, Takele, in partnership with Royal, regularly facilitated select individual farmer exports together each year from within the cooperative union structure. It was considered very unusual at the beginning, but over time this effort laid the groundwork for what is now a robust demand for unique, small-farm coffees from Ethiopia’s most famous specialty areas. 

The flavor profile is soft and creamy, with a gentle fruit-forward presence that reminded us of honey, pear, and Sugar Daddy caramel lollipops.