Why Does Bensa Coffee Have a Perfume-Grade Aroma?

Bensa, a highland sub-region of Ethiopia's Sidamo growing area, has earned the nickname little perfume for coffee with an aroma that smells more like flowers and sweet fruit than a typical cup. The character comes from high altitude, a distinctive microclimate, and the 74 series disease-resistant varieties released by JARC, such as 74158, which deliver stable, expressive flavor season after season.

Coffee cultivation here averages 1,800 to 2,300 meters, high even by Sidamo standards, and the surrounding growing area is so large and varied that flavors differ from village to village, which is also why Yirgacheffe and Guji eventually split off as separate regions. The Hamasho 74158, a natural process, medium-light roast, shows the Bensa style: mango and strawberry aromas at the grind, then guava, citrus, and white flowers in a light, clean cup.

Bensa, a sub-region in Ethiopia's Sidamo growing area, is known for its high altitude and unique microclimate, and the coffee it produces is often described as "little perfume." This article introduces Bensa's geographical advantages, cultivation patterns, and variety characteristics, especially how the 74 series disease-resistant varieties released by JARC contribute to its stable and stunning flavor. The Ethiopian Hamasho (74158 natural medium-light roast) on Front Street Coffee's bean list is a typical example. When ground, it releases light floral notes with sweet aromas of mango and strawberry; in the cup, it presents rich layers of guava, citrus, and white flowers, with a light, clean body and a long finish. If you are captivated by perfume-like coffee aromas, Bensa is worth trying.

Doesn't that sound especially familiar? That's right! Guangdong has a household-name herbal tea called "Bansha," and the Bensa region happens to share the same name, so every time Front Street Coffee brings up this region, customers and friends always tease: Herbal tea, huh?

Anyway, Front Street Coffee is talking about this region today because the coffee produced here has a very unique character. How unique? Many friends who have tried it call it "little perfume" or "perfume coffee," meaning its flavor is as enchanting as perfume. Bensa Region Before formally introducing Bensa, Front Street Coffee will briefly talk about Sidamo, because Bensa is not a major region in Ethiopia, but a sub-region under the larger Sidamo growing area. Sidamo is recognized as one of Ethiopia's three major growing regions. However, compared with other regions, due to historical reasons, Sidamo and surrounding administrative divisions are intertwined and cover a very large area, which makes the altitude, humidity, soil, and microclimate in different parts of Sidamo vary considerably.

These conditions are precisely the key factors shaping coffee flavor, so the coffee flavor of the Sidamo region appears complex and diverse. Even between village and village, there can be subtle differences in flavor. Moreover, regions like Yirgacheffe and Guji were separated from Sidamo and established as independent regions precisely because their flavor characteristics differ too much from the citrus, pineapple, and other "Sidamo flavors" in most people's impressions. The Bensa region is located in the highland area of Sidamo and is also the name of a town/county. The average altitude for coffee cultivation in this area is between 1,800 and 2,300 meters. Compared with other Sidamo sub-regions, this altitude is already quite high.

High altitude increases the temperature difference between day and night, thereby slowing the ripening of coffee cherries and allowing them to accumulate more substances that contribute to aroma development, because coffee cherries must accumulate enough nutrients to survive. In addition to high altitude, Bensa's soil, climate, and humidity are also very suitable for coffee growth, giving it exceptional growing conditions. Because of this, coffee produced in the Bensa area often shows outstanding flavor, which has also attracted many coffee giants to concentrate coffee production in Bensa.

The major brands that have settled in Bensa provide local coffee farmers with professional knowledge training and technical support, and strictly control every stage of green bean processing, such as picking only fully ripe all-red cherries and how to turn the coffee beans during drying... The goal is to produce coffee of extremely excellent quality. In addition, in order to make coffee yield and taste more stable, many coffee merchants in the Bensa region have begun to grow single varieties, rather than collecting and blending various Ethiopian varieties before processing as in other regions. The varieties usually grown are mainly the 74 series disease-resistant varieties released by JARC (Jimma Agricultural Research Center), such as 74110, 74112, 74158, etc. They not only have outstanding disease resistance, but also excellent flavor themselves.

It is precisely this approach that has allowed the Bensa region to win repeatedly at the Ethiopian COE, which has only been held for a few editions. Every friend who has tried Bensa coffee, without exception, has been amazed by its extremely unique flavor.

The characteristic of conventional Sidamo coffee is a direct and clear tropical fruit acidity, while the aroma of Bensa coffee is more like a perfume blended by a perfumer, soft and enchanting, and this is no exaggeration. On Front Street Coffee's bean list, there are several coffees from the Bensa region, and from them we can indeed feel the enchanting aromatic charm mentioned above. Take Front Street Coffee's Ethiopian Hamasho, for example. Its variety is 74158, it is naturally processed, and medium-light roasted. When Front Street Coffee grinds it into powder, you can smell a soft yet obvious light floral fragrance, along with sweet, rich fruity aromas类似 mango and strawberry.

After brewing it into coffee, you can taste rich aromas of guava, strawberry, mango, citrus, and white flowers. The overall mouthfeel is light, clean, bright, and transparent, with a long finish, very likable.

That is all for Front Street Coffee's sharing this time. The coffee from the Bensa region is truly worth trying; its aroma will be even more outstanding than you imagine~

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.