Suke Quto | Natural | Swiss Water® Decaf | Ethiopia

Wildfires burned through Guji for several years in the nineties. Tesfaye Bekele was born into coffee farming but had taken a detour into government work on the environmental side, and the reforestation effort afterward brought him back to it. He started pushing coffee as the crop to replant with.

The government furnished seedlings and even additional land. Farmers still wouldn't bite, because coffee takes years before it pays anything.

So he resigned his post, took a plot himself, and grew it. That plot became Suke Quto farm and its washing station, which now brings in coffee from 171 outgrowers across Guji.

This is his natural, grown in volcanic soil at 1,800 meters and up, decaffeinated by Swiss Water®.

The cup leads with blackberry. Black tea underneath it, dry and structured. Chocolate through the middle, red grape on the finish.

Fruit-forward without going jammy.

Note: Due to decaffeination, this coffee may appear darker on the exterior even when roasted lightly. Exterior color does not always reflect roast development.

Origin Details

• Producer: Tesfaye Bekele
• Farm: Suke Quto
• Region: Shakisso, Guji, Ethiopia
• Altitude: 1,800 to 2,000 meters
• Variety: Ethiopia Landrace
• Process: Natural
• Decaffeination: Swiss Water® 
• Harvest: November to January
• Resting Time: 2-4 days

Roast Level

• Light/Medium

Flavor Notes

• Blackberry
• Black Tea
• Chocolate
• Red Grape

Processing Method

Natural Process
The coffee is dried in whole cherry with the fruit left on. The sugars in the pulp work into the seed as it dries, which is where the berry depth and the winey grape character come from.

Swiss Water® Decaffeination 
Green coffee is decaffeinated with water and activated carbon, no added solvent. Caffeine is drawn out into a green coffee extract already saturated with the bean's own soluble compounds, so the flavor stays in the bean while the caffeine leaves. Trace caffeine remains, as it does in all decaf.

Soil & Water
The farm sits in the Odo Shakisso woreda at 1,800 meters and up, in volcanic soil enriched by organic composting. Water used at the mill is held in purpose-built lagoons so wastewater is managed cleanly rather than running off.

Why You Will Love It

• A natural Ethiopian decaf with real berry depth, not the flat cup decaf usually gets
• Swiss Water® decaffeinated, water and carbon only
• Blackberry and red grape up front, black tea and chocolate holding the base
• Sourced from a farm that grew out of a reforestation effort in Guji

About Suke Quto

The mill's wastewater is contained rather than dumped, the soil is fed with compost instead of bought inputs, and he's funded a new school building in the next village. Suke Quto is now known for some of the best coffee coming out of Ethiopia.

Resting Time

2-4 days