Gesho Branches / ጌሾ / ጌሶ ዕንጨይቲ

Gesho is what hops are to European beer: the plant that gives Ethiopian and Eritrean brewing its backbone. Cut from Rhamnus prinoides, the shiny-leaf buckthorn that grows across the highlands, these branches are naturally sun-dried and sold whole — stems and bark intact, the way brewers prefer them.

Steeped or boiled, gesho gives tella its clean bitterness and tej its dry, resinous edge, cutting through the sweetness of honey and keeping the brew from turning flat or cloying. It also helps a ferment stay stable, which is why households have relied on it for centuries without refrigeration or additives.

Nothing has been added and nothing sprayed on. One ingredient, dried in the open air.

Whole dried branches — crush or split to your preferred coarseness.
100% natural, single ingredient.
Sustainably harvested from established highland stands.
For tella (traditional beer), tej (honey wine) and korefe.