Ninety Plus

Ninety Plus was founded in Ethiopia in 2006 by Joseph Brodsky. It stunned coffee aficionados with its debut coffee in 2007, leaving a lasting impression. The extraordinary top-tier flavors are inseparable from meticulous attention to every step of the process—from directly engaging with farmers during cultivation, to sorting harvested green beans individually based on variety, climate, timing, and more, and then customizing storage and processing methods tailored to each bean to achieve exceptionally high-quality coffee.

During his time in Ethiopia, Joseph Brodsky sought but couldn’t find a variety that could surpass Geisha. Since he couldn’t surpass Geisha through varietal selection, he aimed to elevate it—crafting the finest Geisha possible—and the experimental processing methods accumulated over the years in Ethiopia became Ninety Plus’s specialty. In 2009, Joseph Brodsky established the Ninety Plus Gesha Estate in Panama.

Red (Red Processing), Ruby (Ruby Processing), Solkiln (SK Processing)—these are all patented, specialty processing methods of Ninety Plus; they also use N2-W2-H2 to describe a processing method.

Ninety Plus baristas name their coffees based on their first impressions, similar to Nekisse (Mystery Kiss) and our Juliette (Juliet): elegant, romantic. Others, like Drima Zede (Candlelight) or Danch Meng (Danqi Dream), are derived from local farming slang or direct English translations.

In 2019, they acquired a plot near the Barú Volcano and named it “90+ Barú Estates.” The name comes from Panama’s famous Barú Volcano, and recent eruptions have enriched the soil nearby, creating an excellent environment for coffee cultivation.

The coffee flavors of Sidamo are highly diverse. The region features varying soil types, microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties. Its terrain includes towering mountains, plateaus, highlands, valleys, and plains, offering great diversity. The geology consists of fertile, well-draining volcanic soils with depths of nearly two meters, and the topsoil appears dark brown or brown in color. The area’s greatest advantage lies in its soil fertility, which is maintained through organic material cycling—using fallen leaves from surrounding trees or plant residues as fertilizer. 

Ninety Plus Drima Zede (Candlelight)

Name Origin: Drima Zede (Candlelight, the name of this Yirgacheffe coffee) means “Best Approach” in the local dialect. According to information provided by the producer, this Yirgacheffe is a specialized product series developed through Ninety Plus’s years of experience. The traditional natural (sun-dried) processing method makes it difficult to achieve pure flavors, but with Ninety Plus’s technical support, only the ripest coffee cherries are handpicked, and the drying process involves constant stirring to ensure uniformity. The final result is an exceptionally clean and transparent cup profile, with dramatic changes between hot and cold states, and captivating aromas of fruit, flowers, and oak barrels.

Origin: Ninety Plus, SNNP Region, Sidama (Sidamo) Coffee Growing Area, Ethiopia

Elevation: 1750m–2000m

About LevelUp

LevelUp is a sub-brand of NinetyPlus, a specialty green coffee processing company, launched in collaboration with green coffee trader BodhiLeaf. It is a series of Ethiopian green coffee beans. Rather than being named after growing regions, the beans are named after their flavor profiles. The names are in local Ethiopian languages, offering vivid descriptions of each bean’s distinct characteristics, retaining the remarkable cup quality of 90+ while being more accessible in price.

NinetyPlus Candle Mango

Flavor: Nectarine, tropical fruit, cream, cinnamon

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Ninety Plus Coffee founder Joseph Brodsky

Since 2006, Ninety Plus founder Joseph Brodsky has been committed to transforming the deeply entrenched commercial coffee farming model. He seized the opportunity to cultivate shade-loving and flavorful heirloom Ethiopian coffee varieties on tropical land, while also creating a new model to inspire and improve the quality of life for coffee farming professionals.

Ninety Plus Coffee founder Joseph Brodsky

The Ninety Plus team currently owns and/or manages over 1,500 hectares of coffee forest restoration projects in Panama and Ethiopia, and has established an international brand to promote the success of a taste-driven model for an ecologically and socially oriented agricultural economy.

Ninety Plus founder Joseph Brodsky realized early on that the world’s highest-quality green coffee beans originate from Ethiopia, and that its numerous varieties offer taste diversity comparable to the way over 10,000 types of grapes produce 1 million different wines.

Ninety Plus green beans all come from original Ethiopian varieties, including the Geisha (Gesha) grown on Panamanian farms, which is also a transplanted heirloom (Heirloom) variety from Ethiopia. Processing is Ninety Plus’s specialty—beans are separated by variety, microclimate, and harvest timing, then tasted individually, with processing methods tailored to each flavor profile to achieve a distinct taste characteristic, much like high-end design, meticulously crafted as an art form. Natural products undergo extensive refinement and improvement until they reach their most beautiful form before being presented to consumers.

Ninety Plus founder Joseph Brodsky realized early on that the world’s highest-quality green coffee beans originate from Ethiopia, and that its numerous varieties offer taste diversity comparable to the way over 10,000 types of grapes produce 1 million different wines.

Ninety Plus green beans all come from original Ethiopian varieties, including the Geisha (Gesha) grown on Panamanian farms, which is also a transplanted heirloom (Heirloom) variety from Ethiopia. Processing is Ninety Plus’s specialty—beans are separated by variety, microclimate, and harvest timing, then tasted individually, with processing methods tailored to each flavor profile to achieve a distinct taste characteristic, much like high-end design, meticulously crafted as an art form. Natural products undergo extensive refinement and improvement until they reach their most beautiful form before being presented to consumers.

In 2006, Joseph Brodsky founded Ninety Plus (90+) after being inspired by the Geisha (also known as Gesha) craze in Panama during 2003 and 2004. When he didn’t find the results he was looking for in Panama, he had another idea—that there might still be undiscovered potential among Ethiopia’s over 10,000 coffee varieties.

To ensure quality, 90+ collaborates directly with local farms, maintaining full control over planting, sampling, harvesting, processing, and cupping.

90+’s exclusive Profile Processing ensures each coffee bean has a unique and consistent flavor profile and quality, and the brand markets its coffee in a manner akin to premium wine, setting it apart in the market.