The Story
Boon Boona Coffee was founded in 2012 by Efrem Fesaha, the son of two Eritrean immigrants who was raised in West Seattle . The name comes from the Tigrinya word for coffee, a nod to Efrem’s East African heritage and the rich coffee culture he grew up around at home . The seed was planted during a 2011 trip to Asmara, Eritrea, where Efrem fell in love with the local cafe culture: rooms filled with the fragrance of freshly roasted beans, unhurried conversation, and a sense of community that felt profoundly different from the grab-and-go pace of American coffee shops.
Efrem returned to Seattle and began sourcing and distributing Ethiopian green coffee beans across North America, building the early foundation of what Boon Boona would become . In 2016, the company expanded into roasted coffee from Ethiopia and Rwanda, and by 2019 Efrem opened a brick-and-mortar cafe and roastery in downtown Renton that brought the East African coffee experience to the Pacific Northwest in physical form . The Renton location became both a neighborhood gathering space and a production hub where the team could roast, cup, and serve their exclusively African-sourced coffees.
From that single Renton storefront, Boon Boona has grown into a multi-location operation with five cafes across Renton, Bellevue, the University of Washington campus, Seattle’s waterfront, and Capitol Hill . The expansion reflects not just commercial success but a deepening of Efrem’s original mission: to honor the African origins of coffee by building a business that centers the continent’s producers, traditions, and flavors in every cup . Boon Boona has become one of the most celebrated Black-owned coffee companies in the United States, earning recognition for both the quality of its coffee and the intentionality of its sourcing.
Sourcing & Relationships
Boon Boona sources exclusively from Africa, working with farms, cooperatives, and exporters across Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Cameroon, and other African nations . This singular focus allows the company to develop deep expertise in the coffees of the continent and to build relationships that extend well beyond transactional buying . Efrem and his team prioritize partnerships with woman-owned farms and cooperatives, including Karehe, a Burundian coffee that is entirely women-owned, produced, marketed, and exported.
The company also seeks out equity-forward sourcing models, such as Dur Feres, a coffee that is 51 percent owned by Ethiopian producers . These partnerships reflect a commitment to ensuring that the economic value of specialty coffee flows back to the communities and countries where coffee originated . Boon Boona is continually working to forge new paths into underserved African coffee-growing regions, expanding the map of what African specialty coffee looks like beyond the well-known origins of Yirgacheffe and Nyeri.
Roasting Philosophy
Boon Boona’s roasting approach varies across their menu to honor the diversity of African coffee traditions . Their single-origin offerings tend toward lighter roast profiles that preserve the bright acidity, floral aromatics, and fruit-forward character that East African coffees are celebrated for . The team roasts in-house at their Renton facility, cupping each lot to dial in profiles that express the unique terroir of each origin.
The Jebena Blend represents the other end of the spectrum, a medium-dark roast that pays tribute to the traditional Ethiopian and Eritrean coffee ceremony . Named after the clay pot used to brew coffee in the ceremony, this blend of Ethiopian and Cameroonian beans delivers a full, chocolaty body with notes of nutmeg and lingering sweetness . This range, from delicate light-roasted single origins to the roasty richness of the Jebena Blend, allows Boon Boona to serve both specialty coffee purists and the East African diaspora community that inspired the company in the first place.
What to Try
The Jebena Blend is the essential Boon Boona experience, a medium-dark blend that evokes the warmth and richness of an East African coffee ceremony with its full body, chocolate depth, and spice-tinged sweetness . It is an excellent introduction to the brand and a reminder that not all great specialty coffee needs to be roasted light.
Dur Feres is a standout single-origin Ethiopian offering that reflects Boon Boona’s commitment to equity in sourcing, with 51 percent ownership by Ethiopian producers and a cup profile that showcases the best of what the country’s coffee can be . Karehe, the Burundian women-owned coffee, is another signature worth seeking out for its clean sweetness and the story of empowerment behind every bag . Boon Boona ships nationally through their website and offers subscriptions for those who want a steady supply of African-sourced specialty coffee delivered to their door.