ETHIOPIA Gundira Shela ESP

The Story Behind the Bean

Kaffa, in southwestern Ethiopia, is the birthplace of coffee. Legend has it that the village of Buni—in the Decha district—gave its name to what we call buna in Amharic today, bun in Arabic, and eventually “coffee” in English. The region has been recognized by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve, and the tropical rainforest growing here is still home to the wild ancestors of the Arabica we drink today.

Finca Gundira Shela sits on the border of two kebele—Gundira and Shela—and has been operated by Ephrem Mulugeta since 2001. He began his career by establishing coffee nurseries and went on to build his own farm in one of Ethiopia’s most renowned coffee-growing regions. The 321 hectares are divided between two plots—Abiy 1 and Abiy 2—where only the 74110 and 74112 varieties are grown.

Forest Coffee & Biodiversity

This is true forest coffee: the coffee shrubs grow among a dozen native tree species—including Shego, Getem, Birbira, Qararo, Bisana, Shola, and Chago. This shade allows the cherries to ripen more slowly and evenly, and is essential to the complexity you find in the cup.

Preserving this forest ecosystem isn’t an afterthought; it’s the foundation of how coffee is grown here. Kaffa is also known for its honey and spices—peppers and cardamom—products that, like coffee, depend on the high-altitude tropical forest.

Read the blog about forest coffee

Processing & Quality

The cherries are hand-picked by skilled workers on the farm itself. They are then dried as natural in the shade on raised beds for about 21 days—a slow method that allows the bean’s sweetness and fruit complexity to fully develop. The processing station is just 1 km from the farm, allowing quality to be closely monitored from picking through shipment.

In the cup, you’ll find a classic Ethiopian profile: bright fruit notes of peach, cherry, and strawberry, with melon-like sweetness and a floral jasmine note on the finish. A coffee that does justice to Arabica’s origins.