Cathartic

Cathartic is intended as a seasonal filter roast exploring vibrant and complex flavours. Our current offering comes from Taferi Kela in the Sidamo region. We love the versatility of Ethiopian coffees, and when roasted lightly, they are a perfect fit for our Cathartic experience. 

CATHARTIC AT A GLANCE

MEET THE PRODUCERS

This particular lot was grown by community farmers in Taferi Kela and processed by Bette Buna at their washing station. It’s a classic washed Ethiopian coffee: First depulped, then fermented for 24-36 hrs depending on the temperature. The different ‘lots’ are different processing runs that happened over the course of the season.

Bette Buna literally translates to ‘House of Coffee’ and this company has been deeply rooted in the village for generations, taking on the responsibility for building the community of Taferi Kela. Even though this village shares a mountain range with better-known Sidamina producers, it has been overlooked so far, and no other company or industry of any type works in this area.

Coffee production in Ethiopia accounts for about a third of the country's GDP but more than 90 percent of people working in coffee don’t make a liveable income. Bette Buna has set out to change that in their community. They teach their community farmers to improve their soil, grow back agro-forestry systems, and teach the importance of picking ripe cherries. Ripe cherries weigh more and produce better coffee, so the farmers get paid more by weight, and also receive a quality premium.

Perhaps most importantly, they distribute more than 350,000 healthy seedlings every year from their in-house nursery. These seedlings are climate-change adapted varietals, and on average the farmers who plant them make minimum $2 per year per seedling once the trees are grown. This means an economic impact in the area of more than $650,000 a year in a region where the average household income is less than $50 per month for an average family size of 9 people.

With Bette Buna, the traceability is exceptional. Every lot specifically tracks and maps the people involved at each stage of production, from the people who picked the cherries to those who processed and milled the coffee. This level of transparency is almost unheard of in Ethiopia. 

Bette Buna is an equal opportunity employer, which is rare in a culture that doesn't typically provide meaningful work for differently abled or disabled people. Their nursery employs people with disabilities (particularly deaf people), families of people with disabilities, as well as other largely disenfranchised groups such as single mothers who struggle to find work, and especially work that accommodates childcare for working mothers in an agrarian society.