Garden of Coffee

Overview

Garden of Coffee was launched in 2016 by Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu — the soleRebels founder and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader — to roast-to-order Ethiopian single origins inside Addis Ababa rather than ship green for foreign roasters. Customers pick their bean, roast level, and even which of the company's 17-plus master artisans they want to roast their lot, all done by hand on traditional ceramic pans over open flame.

Known for

• Hand-roasting on traditional Ethiopian ceramic pans, customer-by-customer
• Customers select the individual roaster who prepares their coffee
• First specialty Ethiopian coffee operation built deliberately to value-add at origin
• Founder Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu — Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women, soleRebels founder
• Awarded #1 Value Added Coffee Exporter by the Ethiopian Coffee & Tea Authority

Why it matters

Direct rebuke to the standard model in which 88% of Ethiopian coffee leaves the country green — Garden of Coffee proves Ethiopian producers can capture roasting margin domestically without importing equipment or ceding the brand.

Production

destoning

null

head roaster

17+ in-house master artisan roasters

color sorting

null

roaster machine

Traditional Ethiopian ceramic roasting pans over open flame

filter equipment

null

cupping frequency

null

roastery location

JFK Building, Sar Bet neighborhood, Addis Ababa

espresso equipment

null

annual volume tonnes

null

Café

JFK Building ground floor, Sar Bet, Addis Ababa

Recognitions

• #1 Value Added Coffee Exporter, Ethiopian Coffee & Tea Authority
• Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women (founder)
• WEF Young Global Leader (founder)

Sources

• https://gardenofcoffee.com/blogs/news/garden-of-coffee-grown-and-roasted-in-ethiopia
• https://sprudge.com/in-addis-ababa-garden-of-coffee-keeps-the-ethiopian-ceremony-alive-and-local-118048.html
• https://dailycoffeenews.com/2017/11/30/ethiopias-garden-of-coffee-blooms-again-with-new-addis-roastery/
• https://cawee-ethiopia.org/garden-of-coffee/