Thanks to the Oh My Bean roastery, chocolate-covered bananas are also part of this year’s holiday filter coffee lineup. Ethiopia Feliz Bananidad is a limited-edition Christmas blend that delights with its sweet, dessert-like character. The flavor is reminiscent of chocolate-covered bananas, blueberries, and cinnamon, with subtle banana notes that pleasantly complement the coffee’s fruitiness. Its full, velvety body is accompanied by high sweetness and medium acidity. It’s the perfect companion for slow winter mornings, when it’s time to brew your favorite pour-over and stay cozy for a little while longer.
The coffee comes from the area around the village of Shantawene in the Bensa district, which is part of Ethiopia’s Sidama region. Coffee trees here grow at an elevation of 2 ,100 to 2,200 meters above sea level. The production is led by Asefa Dukamo and the Daye Bensa company, which works with hundreds of small-scale farmers. In addition to the purchase price, they also pay these farmers an additional bonus after the coffee is sold. Asefa’s son, Kenean, has also joined the family business and is developing experimental processing methods for small lots.
Local Ethiopian varieties known as “Heirloom” underwent natural processing at the Keramo station using a banana co-ferment—that is, the simultaneous fermentation of coffee and banana peels. Fully ripe cherries were sealed in barrels along with freshly prepared banana peels, where they fermented for 72 hours without oxygen. Temperature, pressure, and time were monitored throughout the entire process. This was followed by the drying of the whole cherries. This experiment from Daye Bensa’s lab added a subtle banana note to the natural character of this natural-processed Ethiopian coffee, which highlights its sweetness and creaminess.
- Producer: Asefa Dukamo, Daye Bensa
- Processing station: Keramo
- Elevation: 2,100–2,200 m above sea level
- Harvest: 2026