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Ethiopia - Alo Coffee / 74158 (Safo Station) / Mosto 96hrs Anaerobic

Ethiopia - Alo Coffee / 74158 (Safo Station) / Mosto 96hrs Anaerobic

$36.00
Taxes included.
  • ORIGIN Ethiopia
  • REGION Bensa, Sidama
  • FARM Alo Coffee
  • PRODUCER Tamiru Tadesse
  • ALTITUDE 2410+m
  • HARVEST 2026
  • VARIETY 74158
  • LOT Safo Station
  • PROCESS Mosto 96hrs Anaerobic
  • NOTES blueberry, pineapple, raspberry, grape, peach

THE STORY

Alo Coffee was founded in 2020 by Tamiru Tadesse, a native of Bensa, Sidama, who spent six years working in the coffee industry before deciding to build something of his own. He chose to establish his first processing station in Alo Village — a bold move, given that the area's extreme elevation above 2,400 masl had historically been considered unsuitable for coffee cultivation. The gamble proved decisive: in 2021, Alo Coffee's very first submission to the Ethiopia Cup of Excellence won first place, placing Bensa's smallholder farmers on the world stage. Since then, Tamiru has expanded to an impressive network of stations across Sidama's Bensa, Bona, and Burra zones, working with over 800 farmers across all sites. Safo Station — formerly known as Alo Main Station — is Alo Coffee's founding hub and operational core. "Safo" in the local language means foundation or beginning, a fitting name for the station where Tamiru first proved what Bensa's high-altitude terroir was capable of. Sitting at 2,410+ masl in the Bensa district of Sidama, Safo Station processes cherries from surrounding smallholder farmers who have cultivated the 74158 varietal — a JARC-developed selection prized for its disease resistance and exceptional cup quality at altitude. Beyond coffee, Alo Coffee reinvests profits into the local community: funding schools, seedling nurseries, and collaborating with over 60 farmers at the Alo station alone. Mossto is Alo Coffee's signature experimental process — and this 96-hour lot is its most extended expression. Fully ripe 74158 cherries are submerged in mossto, the natural juice released during cherry fermentation, and sealed in anaerobic tanks for 96 hours. The tanks are stored in a shaded warehouse at Safo Station to maintain temperature stability throughout the fermentation window — critical at high altitude where ambient temperatures can fluctuate significantly. Over four days, the cherries slowly absorb the concentrated fruit sugars and flavour precursors present in the mossto, building a layered, juicy complexity that is clean rather than wild. After fermentation, the lot is transferred to raised beds for natural drying. In the cup: blueberry, pineapple, raspberry, grape, and peach — intensely fruity, deeply sweet, and remarkably clean for its fermentation length.

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